Nighthawk Chronicles: The Madness Method
by Plague Angel
Summary: When a Lyran Alliance covert operation in the Homeworlds goes awry the Jade Falcons activate their own secret weapon in response. It's Spy vs. Spy as LOKI faces off with the Falcon Watch, and nothing is what it seems...
1. Prologue

**Nighthawk Chronicles - The Madness Method**

What if the Lyran Alliance had stolen every bit of the Jade Falcon military deployment information from the clan homeworlds? What price would they pay to make sure they get it back to Tharkad?

The best the Lyran Alliance has to offer is dispatched to ensure delivery and they will employ any means of war to make sure everything goes to plan. But what if the Jade Falcons have a trick up their sleeve that may break just about every rule they play by, and how will Clan Star Adder respond to the new chaos erupting in their territory resulting from this shadow war?

* * *

**Prologue**

_I hate the smell of burning things._ The thoughts of Michael Steiner rolled through his head like a never-ending bullet train. Thoughts of how quickly his skiff malfunctioned during the atmospheric drop to this planet, how long his eyes will sting, how far the damned Falcons are behind him, if they will find him, and now, how often in the last few months he has smelled tragedy in one form or another.

Making his way from the crashed skiff, Michael took in his surroundings. He has not been on this planet before, but that is nothing new. He has seen dozens of new planets in his lifetime. This one was rather comfortable compared to the last few he was on. Light forest is scattered around his clearing, giving way to some underbrush that could provide good cover if he suddenly needed it. The plant life here has found a way to grow despite the arid climate. The dirt is rather thin and sandy, much like a dry desert floor, but this place is not hot enough to resemble any desert he has been in before. Not bad, not bad at all.

The thunder of dropship retro-rockets loomed behind him somewhere, out of site. He knew that the landing rockets would light up next, and then it would all be silent. What he worried about was the air reconnaissance. He had to find a good vantage point soon with some cover so he could see where he was without loosing his head.

In the distance he heard the sounds of battle. Autocannons and missile explosions echoed off of the landscape, suggesting hills and canyons. Many people would turn away from the sounds of what could be a 'mech battle when they're on foot, but Michael Steiner knew better than most that where there are warriors, there are resources. And what is a man on the run without resources?

Picking up his pace, Michael began his jog in the direction of the battle, which was thankfully in the opposite direction of his pursuing dropship. This is all routine to him now as the last several months have been nothing but run and hide, duck and cover. The Jade Falcon unit Khan Marthe Pryde sent after him was the most relentless force he had ever seen; more so than his own cousin, who had her own reputation to uphold. But the greater the challenge, the stronger you will be in the end. _And if I survive this, I will be invincible _he thought with a smile. _Just wish I knew when LOKI was going to get here._


	2. The Enemy of my Enemy

**Chapter One: The Enemy of my Enemy**

"Here. See what happened here?"

Each of the three members of the 212th Battle Cluster, Epsilon Galaxy of Clan Star Adder stood and listened for what would inevitably be the answer to that rhetorical question. Star Colonel Gretchen Talasko, commander of the 300th Adder Sentinels, Kappa Galaxy, was going over the day's exercises with the 212th. The Adder's Kappa Galaxy was known as the premier Clan training unit because for the last forty years its primary mission was to learn and imitate the tactics used by their enemies, specifically Inner Sphere forces. This is something extremely useful for training young Clan warriors to fight an Inner Sphere opponent who does not follow Zellbrigen, the Clan honor dueling system. For years now Kappa has trained green Star Adder units to respond to the versatility and nature of fighting Inner Sphere opponents. When duty calls however, the members of Kappa fight along their Star Adder brethren as true Clan warriors. A duel role is not a new concept to the Clans, but this particular one carries a slightly larger burden than most.

Star Colonel Talasko scheduled several combat scenarios with the 212th a month ago to keep both units on their toes. The day's exercises did not please her. At the moment, she is pointing out a maneuvering error by the 212th that put the entire unit in a crossfire pattern. She continued, "At this point you moved your men into grid nine and encountered fire from two directions. You broke formation and split your forces before taking cover and assessing the enemy's force strength."

The three members of the 212th, including Star Colonel Kira, their commander, simply watched as she played out the proper solution on the holo-display. This was war education at its finest, second only to actual combat, which Clan Star Adder hasn't seen since the absorption of Clan Burrock only a year prior. And even that was not full scale in itself. A large portion of Star Colonel Kira's cluster is former Burrock themselves. Some units had a hard time assimilating with their new clan at first, but most have made a home and many career opportunities within Clan Star Adder. Star Colonel Kira, like Star Colonel Talasko is one of the Adder commanders tasked with taking in the new warriors and making them a cohesive fighting unit, no easy task for some people.

Star Captain Miles Van Houten stood behind his commander as she lectured the 212th on their mistakes. He himself was a recent member of Clan Burrock, though he has not taken his absorption so lightly. Gretchen has done nothing but prove herself to him as an able and capable commander, but he has seen the way she treats the Burrock converts differently. Except of course the 212th. She cannot afford to have them speak to Galaxy Commander Jenica Turgidson about her favoritism. Sure, she will only take it to a circle of equals or perhaps a Trial of Grievance, but her subordinates will never respond to her the same again if her reputation is that of what he thought. For the time being though, he is keeping his mouth shut, concentrating on the next exercise planned for the evening against another of Kira's stars, a recon/ambush scenario.

Star Colonel Talasko finished her review. "Colonel, I am confident you will be reviewing these vids later with the rest of your unit, quiaff?"

"Aff. They will know the maneuvers in and out by the time we leave Huntress."

"Good. Command will like to hear how much progress is being made at their expense. Miles, could you—"

"Star Colonel Talasko! We have unauthorized personnel approaching our tech facility," interrupted one of the techs surrounding the holo-vid at one of the monitoring facilities. "One man so far, on foot. He appears to be wearing a Jade Falcon field uniform…"

Gretchen perked up at once, examining the monitor. A sole person in a raggedy Jade Falcon field uniform was indeed approaching one of her storehouses. This individual was peculiar for a Falcon warrior: his hair was a mess, at least week old stubble was on his face, his uniform was filthy and he moved with the grace of a tired man after a mountain hike. His height and build was slightly smaller than a typical Falcon warrior, with no threat or hubris in his eyes, both customary of the staunch crusaders. He did, however, appear seasoned, which was something to keep in mind for later. All this evaluation must have taken not but a second to filter through, as her response seemed almost instantaneous to her turning her head. Assuming her command voice, Gretchen spouted, "Sentinels! Gear up and make way to intercept! Waste no time!"

Miles stood up from leaning on the console behind Gretchen Talasko. Despite the paced movement around them, he seemed rather calm and deliberate in his actions. "The Falcons should know better than to wander into our territory. What should we do with him?"

"Detain and question Van Houten. You know the drill." Gretchen had a hint of irritation in her voice. Now was not the time for his power games. She was already deep in thought to the reason a Jade Falcon warrior would be walking around her training grounds.

* * *

Michael made his way to the garage-like structure to view the large Star Adder insignia on the door. It looked like a coiled snake mid-strike in front of a five-point star. He had read about this clan from his initial intel briefing, but had not paid much attention to it. It was not like Michael to stray off during a briefing as even the minor details can mean life or death, but then again, he never planned on migrating to other planets after botching his mission either. He figured if that happened, he would be as good as dead. In some ways, he is not sure he isn't yet. 

The hissing noise of small jump jets alarmed but did not panic Michael. But what he saw did. Right as his neck pointed his face upward to view the source of the noise, he noticed three Star Adder elementals dropping from the roof of the complex down to his location. Two more joined the group from the large garage door that just started opening. Trained or not, every human in existence should know by now that they don't stand a chance against clan elementals unarmed. In fact, it was the focus of the shortest training session he had in covert-ops school. _Surrender or run. And if you run, pray._

"Unauthorized personnel, surrender now and contact your reinforcements," the lead elemental demanded.

"I am alone, and I demand to see your commander," was his only response.

"In due time. Put these on and we will escort you to a secure compound," the lead elemental said as he threw a pair of restraints at Michael's feet.

He slipped in the restraints as several light and medium omnimechs stampeded past him into the tree line he emerged from several minutes ago, their footsteps violently vibrating the world around them. _Looking for reinforcements. Good response time if I've ever seen one. Heh, wonder how long they will go at it back there, _he thought with a smile.

* * *

"The codex checks out ma'am, but his prosthetic arm is not military grade. He claims to be on the run for crimes against another warrior, but refuses to elaborate. We could get better information out of him if we were allowed to apply force--"

"Force will not be necessary at the moment, but I do foresee a problem if he does not start speaking," Gretchen responded while approaching her new prisoner. The security detail detachment assigned to this Falcon warrior was not very successful at pulling useful information out of him, which is unusual. Gretchen chose these particular men because they are some of the best she has seen when dealing with this.

Michael Steiner figured by now that this was the commanding officer approaching him. Not but moments ago a tall female in what appeared to be her early thirties entered the room and received nothing but courtesies and updates. She listened to them casually and leaned in to look Michael in the face. Her blue eyes were of a seasoned warrior: extremely analytical and all business. They would have scared most people if they had not been through the covert ops training Michael had at the age of only 15. No one person in this world could scare him now. 

"I will give you one chance to explain what you are doing in my training grounds and why you look like you just crawled out of a war. If I have to ask a question twice, I will make certain you regret it. Jade Falcon or not, you are intruding on _our_ territory now." Gretchen Talasko pulled out a pair of cable cutters from one of her cargo pockets and studied them like a painter would inspect his brush.

"To present finer detail to the previous rendition of my story—" Michael started.

"Enough crap. If you cannot say what you mean through simple and concise terms, then you have something to hide, quiaff?"

"Aff…" Michael sighed as a sign he was giving up dealing with the people around him. "I was challenged to a circle of equals with my commanding officer several months ago—"

"Define several." Gretchen interrupted.

"Four." He paused. Then, "As I was saying, I challenged my superior to a circle of equals, and he won. I would have called out a trial of grievance, but… I just lost it."

He finished after another pause, "I attacked and… killed him in front of everyone. Since the circle was over and he claimed victory already, I was detained and going to be tried for murder. You know how the Falcons deal with murderers, quiaff?"

"I do. But a true warrior faces death down and challenges it. You are not a warrior." Gretchen crouched next to the prisoner, who remained calm. "I have called Jade Falcon command with a request for cooperation. They told me they never heard of you. This is interesting, quiaff?"

Now a bead of sweat began to form on Michael's forehead. Luckily for him, the arid climate helped it evaporate before it was noticed by his captors. "Very. You see, my pursuers are not from Huntress, as I fled from Strana Mechty. Apparently my clan did not coordinate with the units here."

He let that sit for a moment and waited for a response. "Four months is a long time… I am sorry. I must have missed your name earlier."

"Kerry. Mechwarrior Kerry. 3rd Battle cluster, Sigma Galaxy, Strana Mechty."

"And your arm? If it is not military, then where did you get it?"

"I have connections."

A long pause followed that, which told Gretchen that he had something to hide after all. Now she was in the precarious position of possibly physically interrogating an intruder to get proper information out of him and getting in trouble with another clan's command section for torturing their prisoner, or backing down from her previous promise. A decision had to be made, and Star Colonel Talasko was not one to sit on things for long.

She reached down and cut the lobe of Michael's left ear from the side of his head. The ear was still attached, but the fleshy under-lobe was now hanging like a wet shirt on a clothesline. The amount of blood produced was astounding, yet Michael made no screams, just muddled grunts. The expressions of the men around Gretchen were mixed to say the least. Several of the guards looked excited, while Miles Van Houten simply looked satisfied that Gretchen is doing things the way he would.

"I am going to ask you again, Mechwarrior Kerry. Where did you get your arm?"

Just then Gretchen's radio spiked up filled the room with static, and then a transmission. "Star Colonel Gretchen Talasko."

"Go ahead."

"A Jade Falcon cluster has just announced its proximity. It claims it is searching for a prisoner and is requesting permission to enter."

She shot a glance at Michael that told him of her dislike for him. She was not finished, and he knew it. "Permission granted. I want the Sentinels on high alert and the names of the cluster commander and home unit written down and documented."

"Roger that Star Colonel." And the radio clicked off.

"It appears you have a reprieve, Mechwarrior." Gretchen turned away from her prisoner and left the building. Miles Van Houten followed and the security detail resumed their guard posts after she left. The thoughts now swimming through Michael's mind now shifted from hiding the fact that he worked with a bandit caste while on the run from the Falcons, and exactly who has come for him. The next half hour should prove rather interesting indeed.

* * *

Star Colonel Vauks was a man of tall stature and had an aura of authority about him. He was currently piloting a _Timber Wolf_, so he was in standard issue Jade Falcon pilot gear, but even it was above standard in appearance when compared to his peers. A small mustache and close-cropped hair topped off the ultra-militaristic appearance, and added to his already 'hardened warrior' demeanor. As the commander of the Falcon cluster, which, consisting of only two binaries was rather small for the crusader clan, he approached with the members of his command star beside him to negotiate terms for transfer of the prisoner. Their uniforms still looked impractical to Gretchen, whose clan simply wears regional camouflage with her clan's insignia somewhere on it. The other clans hold their totems in such high regard that they still wear standard color (whatever that may be on their totem animal), somewhat impractical uniforms to show off their origins. The warriors in the jade green met with the warriors in the desert fatigues and addressed them formally.

At first, Star Colonel Talasko wanted to know what this man's crimes were and why the Falcon forces on Huntress were not notified, but after some discussion Colonel Vauks proved to be rather adept at getting what he wants, and gave her the minimum of what she asked for to make her feel comfortable. He also reminded her that she needs none of the information and if he wanted the prisoner outright with no concessions made, she would only waste her breath talking to command as he has the right people backing him up.

As per standard troop transfer procedure, the prisoner was bound at the hands and ankles and his face covered. The transfer went smoothly and without incident. _What a day this turned out to be,_ she thought to herself. _If this is how the military deals with things in that clan, then we have nothing to worry about if we decide to invade soon._ So far, she was not impressed at how the Falcon situation got so out of hand. But all was done and over with. At least that is what she kept telling herself, despite that little prick in the back of her neck telling her otherwise.

* * *

"Everyone's up and running Colonel. Ready to get out of here?" 

"Copy that Veronica. Standard forward echelon with you in the lead. Keep your troops tight until two clicks past the tree line, then we head for the dropship. We're only going to get one safe chance at this." Colonel Karl Garris pushed the throttle handle forward to start his 'mech's feet moving. The air conditioning in these clan 'mechs was incredible. _Even for second line units these things outplay our regulars_ he thought. His Atlas back at home station was one of the best maintained 'mechs in the Lyran military, yet its air conditioner was always having problems. _It's the little things you remember bothering you the most_ he continued with a smile. It helped that the Jade Falcon cooling vest he received was not damaged in battle, therefore didn't need to be re-furbished. Everything his troops were wearing and piloting now was taken from battlefields on Coventry some years ago. It is a wonder how far the Lyran Alliance has gone with restoring Clan technology.

He mentally went over the list of things needed before the unit disappeared from the Star Adder camp and out of the teeth of the enemy. This whole mission was nearly over, and he was happy to think it. "Jeremy, you copy?"

The static in his headset lit up instantly. "I copy Colonel."

"Did you give Michael a headset? I want him online."

"Copy that sir," Michael's voice replied over the comm. line. "That was one beautiful display of theatrics out there. I can't believe you pulled it off so smoothly."

"Kissing my ass will only get you so far. The dropship is 60 clicks from here. It's going to be a long trek, so get comfortable. We have MREs and drinks in there if you need them. Did the Star Adders mess you up while in custody?"

"Just a nasty cut on my ear, but nothing serious," Michael replied while applying gauss to it.

"I saw the arm. We have med techs and equipment set up for you on the dropship for you to write out your whole report. It needs to be done before we reach Tharkad."

"No problem. Just get me home and out of this Falcon uniform."

"I hear you on that one. Colonel Garris out."

* * *

Star Colonel Talasko released everyone for lunch after the prisoner transfer. Today's events have thrown things off center, and the break would be good for her to balance it all. She dedicated most of her time to planning the night exercises while Star Captain Van Houten looked on, adding feedback when necessary. He was a good commander, but he had a sour attitude toward Gretchen, and she could not understand why. But it made no matter. He was cooperating, and that was good enough for her at the moment. She got no further than assigning which troops would be part of the ambush exercise when the explosions went off. Once again she was contacted and throwing her units into the field. She was briefed while running toward her _Warhawk _and stripping the excess field gear off to keep only her 'mech pilot suit and essential equipment on. It appears that approximately twelve kilometers outside the post the Jade Falcon cluster was ambushed by an unknown force. No batchall was called, and no communication relayed back to the Adder base for reinforcements. The fighting was visible from her command post as smoke and bright explosions lit up the sky. Whatever the situation was over there, Star Colonel Vauks was in it deep, because there was no let up between explosions. It was just a continuous barrage.

Boarding her 'mech she wondered if she was going to get a piece of the action herself. The only reason she is responding is because it is still within her area of responsibility. If it is a bandit raid, she does not want it reaching her facility. But what bandit force had the firepower to accomplish this?

Either way, three of her stars were making their way over to the battle at the highest speed possible while maintaining formation while Kira's forces stayed back to defend the post if necessary. If she was going to get a piece of the action, she was going to do it right.

* * *

Veronica was hit first. Her _Summoner_ suffered three PPC hits before a volley of no less than 60 LRMs zeroed in on her from behind some brush. She ejected right as the missiles hit, flying out of the inferno below her in her ejection seat like a bullet from a gun. Her side units never had a chance to return fire by the time they were engaged. They ran forward into the brush to verify targets and relay them to Colonel Garris. Problem was, the enemy was using an ECM unit, and they had to see their targets with their naked eyes. They came in firing and nearly decimated the front tree line to clear it of enemies before approaching the end of the narrow clearing.

"Colonel Garris! We have at least two medium clan units exiting the cordon to our right. They may be able to flank you on your five 'o clock if you don't watch it."

Colonel Garris just analyzed the situation like he normally does, with the utmost calm and delicacy. "Fall back into formation and hold a front line. We will take cover at that bend to your right and establish a defensive. Do _not_ turn your backs on that forest."

"Copy that sir!" They started backing up as instructed.

"Sir! I have multiple units—!" Garris turned his _Timber Wolf _around immediately at the sound of the explosion. Staff Sergeant Tarros' _Mad Dog_ just blew apart as two _Fire Falcons_ painted in a black paint scheme that he has never seen before rushed out from the rear hills and fired their medium lasers into his 'mech's missile racks. His rig suffered multiple ammunition explosions, ripping gaping holes into the back of his machine. Luckily for him, the CASE systems installed in his 'mech contained the damage. But the new units kept coming, concentrating their fire on the new holes in the face of his 'mech, melting moyomers and internal structure into a thick mess of pluming smoke. His _Mad Dog_ was useless in a matter of seconds as the heat built up to the point of his auto-ejection kicking in.

A _Hellbringer_ and a _Summoner_ crested the hill behind the _Fire Falcons_ firing what they had at the rear of Garris' lines. The zoom function in his cockpit revealed subdued Jade Falcon insignias on the sides of the dark attackers. This changed things considerably. Jade Falcons concentrating fire on single 'mechs without offering a batchall? This could only mean one thing… They came to destroy his unit in its entirety and are going to do what is necessary to accomplish just that.

If two of his units have not been taken down seconds apart from each other, Colonel Garris may have been able to disperse his troops and take cover in several areas of the shallow valley, but while his formations held, his troops were shaken up and already firing in multiple directions out of confusion. This was going to be tough. But that is what the premier intelligence unit of the Lyran Alliance was trained to handle.

"LOKI, split off into your section lances! Commanders, take your troops to alternating cover points and move them toward the hole Jenkins and Harris cleared. Bravo Lance, you're covering our rear; alpha, our front. Pound away at the forward units as much as you can, but conserve your ammo and watch your heat. This may take a while to finish. Colonel Garris out." With the orders out it was a matter of time before he crawled his way out of yet another sticky situation. Now it was up to the skill of his troops, who were getting nailed from all sides this very moment.

* * *

Gretchen Talasko's command star was booking it hard with the other two stars in her trinary close behind. Her _Warhawk_ was negotiating the terrain as gracefully as it could since the farther from base she got, the more uneven the land became.

Suddenly her radar showed multiple friendly contacts to her eleven o' clock. They seemed to be heading to the same location as her, traveling at their top speed, which will put them on target sooner than her unit. She keyed her mic, "Incoming Adder units, identify yourselves."

Her headset spoke back, "This is Star Captain Dermall leading reinforcements from the 212th Sheet Lightning. We just suffered a depot raid by enemy units who retreated before we could return fire. We have been in pursuit since. Who is this?"

"This is Star Colonel Gretchen Talasko of the 300th Adder Sentinels. We are responding to a Jade Falcon unit that was attacked another six clicks from here, due northwest."

"Jade Falcon? What are they doing within our boarders?"

"Retrieving a prisoner who supposedly escaped from Strana Mechty. I say something is up, but I will not know for sure until I get over there."

Silence followed. Gretchen waited for a response, but it seemed like none was going to make one to her. Then suddenly… "Agreed. My orders are to eliminate the raiders and I plan to do just that. Do as you see fit. My orders come directly from Galaxy Commander Carlos Hutchinson."

Gretchen cursed inside her head. _Why does everyone have to be difficult today? _She checked one of her side monitors to view the progress of her support communications vehicle. The Star Adders had the second largest Navy of all the Clans now, and she planned on using it. Since ECMs were so abundant here today, some orbital surveillance would only keep her odds from going too far into the red. But she needed that vehicle in range to decode the signal and transmit it to her 'mech. It was moving rather quickly and would be in range soon.

* * *

"Steady with your fire Delta. Keep funneling them into that hole. Alpha, hold your positions until they hit the mark. You need to keep hidden. Beta, have you gotten to the forward path yet?"

"Neg commander. ETA is another minute and a half."

"Work it as best you can. When Alpha is done saturating the area, I need you to ram your guns down their throats while Delta pushes them forward. How is progress, Gamma?"

In the trees, above one of the few paths wide and level enough for vehicles to pass through was a point of elementals. They were clinging to trunks high above the ground, hidden from view and ready to pounce on their prey, provided it came directly underneath them. "We have almost lost the vehicle twice, but the planted explosives have kept it on track. We will have it in another twenty seconds."

"Good, keep on it. Let me know the second you have him. He is _not_ getting out of this one." Star Captain Thao Prentice managed the attack like a masterful game of chess. Unlike Karl Garris, Thao was energetic, involved, and sometimes impulsive. But he was above all ingenuitive. His radical thinking has made his unit, the 32nd Special Operations Unit (A.K.A. the Nighthawks), the most efficient of its kind within the clan. It was, in fact, the only of its kind within the clan. A unit of spies, agents, insurgents, and crack 'mech pilots mixed to give the 32nd its flavor. There was yet to be a mission they couldn't fulfill, though this was proving to be quite the challenge. Thao has been trailing Michael Steiner since he dropped out of sight on Strana Mechty under orders from Kael Pershaw. Word is, the Khan herself wanted Steiner brought to her. His unit has set up numerous assaults and traps for him, narrowly failing every time. They did get his arm however, and in time, Thao will make sure they get the rest of him. Not only his career, but the security of his entire clan depends on it.

The ambush here on Huntress was aimed at LOKI, the premier behind-enemy-lines intelligence unit in the Lyran Alliance. The 32nd learned that LOKI had been dispatched to retrieve Michael and that they may have already been in clan space. It was just a matter of time before the two units crossed each other if Thao had his way. To his surprise, LOKI appeared in re-furbished Falcon 'mechs lost during the Coventry campaign and posed as their own Falcon unit for the purpose of getting behind enemy lines and extracting Steiner under the cover of official business. They were good, albeit, the best their special forces had to offer, and they were instantly making a mess of Thao's plans. Luckily, he had planned for that as well, and is currently trying to make lemonade out of oranges. This Karl Garris he is going up against seems to always have a magic doorway to jump though to save him from defeat, and Thao was determined to seal that shut. It was only a matter of time to find out if that determination was enough.

LOKI pulled its 'mechs into the hole made earlier and was heading right into Thao's awaiting ambush. He did need Beta unit to reach the bottleneck though to not only seal the thing shut, but also stop any forward units from detecting the ambush and turning Alpha unit into sitting ducks. Beta had only moderate firepower, but was maneuverable enough to outrun any recon unit it has encountered yet. Several Incubi filled the ranks, which was unusual for the Falcons. Thao found use in their design and used them extensively compared to the rest of the clan. It was one of the things that made him so unique. He specially prepped and customized each 'mech before planet drops to ensure maximum efficiency. Even though omnimechs were designed for that purpose, he ran his techs into the ground with constant modifications, and his pilots through the ringer, forcing them to be proficient in every weapon system their 'mech was capable of carrying. The Incubi today were sporting PPCs, and they would find a very good use for them soon.

* * *

Garris was having trouble keeping his men together. As highly trained as they were, they were constantly separated by enemy fire. These Falcons all seemed to either be extremely accurate, or all had targeting computers installed on their machines, because they have yet to miss a shot at Garris' troops and he was starting to feel the pain inflicted so heavily in such a short time. The last two 'mechs to enter the brush were destroyed as they did so, which left a hole in the rear of his defenses to be filled. He gave the orders and two troops moved from the middle to cover the rear. He was loosing men faster than he expected to, and he had to find a way to even the score. So far, only one Falcon 'mech was disabled with the return fire his men were pouring out.

He was somewhat relieved to see the extent of the damage caused by his men earlier to the terrain. His _Timber Wolf_ had a wide profile and it would have been rather difficult to move through this area if it hadn't been blown down. He looked around and saw the Falcon fire subduing. He didn't know if it was from his own men's counter fire or if they didn't have the numbers to keep pursuing. His forward unit's signature suddenly blipped up on his radar screen ahead of him. They were returning form their recon. He keyed his mic, "Alpha, what have you got for me?"

"We couldn't find anything, radar or otherwise. Aleks got cocky though and got out of his 'mech for a quick hike," was the reply.

"Don't tell me we lost a man outside of his 'mech…"

"No sir, he's fine. In fact, he caught sight of some missile boats aiming their guns right into the forward valley. They'll cook us alive if we move through there."

Garris sighed. These Falcons were definitely full of surprises. "Do they have support? Can you get behind them?"

"Negative Colonel. Their backs are to the walls, but we've located another route for us to squeeze through. The larger 'mechs will have a rough time, and it takes us further from Michael's transport…"

"That's acceptable Sergeant. The more we divert attention from the vehicle, the better off it is. We'll follow you out of here, just watch your sides."

"Copy that sir." And with that they were off. Garris' troops funneled through some trees into an even more narrow clearing, but they received no fire.

Two of his troops dropped back to defend a wounded _Rifleman IIC_ to the funnel. They told Colonel Garris that they were going to secure the rear, and Garris knew exactly what fate had in store for them. The logical part of his brain told him that he needed the extra time to get the rest of the unit through the next clearing though, so he did not deny them. They charged back up to the fire discharging all of their ballistics weapons at once at the lead Falcon 'mech, sending its shots off course. But fate was not in their favor, as the _Fire Falcons_ had moved around most of the burning damage the previous fire had made and slammed into the side of the Lyrans with their lasers burning hot. With the _Hellbringer_ maneuvering around the fire into a new line of sight, no matter of movement or cover saved those troops. But they did their job. They held the Falcons off for two and a half minutes, taking one of them down in the process. The _Rifleman IIC_ pilot thanked them for their heroism as their 'mechs hit the ground, but he never made it to the valley in time before he was sniped from behind.

Garris moved through the valley just in time to see a black Jade Falcon _Kit Fox_ in the distance retreating from his line of sight. He suddenly kicked into order and ran calculations through his head, wondering how long it would take the Falcons to respond to his new route when he heard them. Swarm LRMs, coming down fast. Someone was painting his units!

"All units take cover! We have incoming!" He screamed over the comm. lines just before his world erupted into fire. The swarms came down from his right, but nothing could hide from them. It was a nightmare. Instantly the heat levels in his 'mech rose and the foliage around him started to crackle and fall over on un-supported trunks. The impact of the barrage of missiles was enough to knock a few of his units over, and they had a hard time getting up with all the destruction around them.

He turned his 'mech to the right and saw just the smallest hint of movement. With that, he fired his PPC (much to his disdain considering his current heat levels) into the sweet spot of trees that he though contained his enemy. The result was impossible to tell, but he did notice more trees move, suggesting he hit something that disturbed everything around it. That amount of satisfaction would have to do for now, because the second barrage was incoming. He pushed the throttle lever forward and was pulled into the back of his seat as his 'mech lurched forward under his command. He made his way out of the valley behind five of his units before the missiles hit. Every one of them missed his men. Well, all of his men except Senior Corporal Valerie. His 'mech was damaged previously in the attack and the first barrage crippled one of his legs. The worst part is, he didn't die instantly.

"Gaaahhhhhhhh! Oh my God!" The shouts were echoed over the commline with no reply. Everyone just listened in horror as his life-support unit was keeping his burning body alive as long as possible. He writhed for a minute and a half before succumbing to silence. It seemed like an eternity.

Silence followed for several seconds afterwards. Colonel Garris took the moment to gather his bearing and get his troops straight. When he was ready, he spat the orders out like he was on autopilot. "Sit rep, now."

* * *

"Unknown aggressors, you are trespassing on Clan Star Adder territory. State your name and rank and cease all hostile actions against your targets." Gretchen Talasko's voice resonated suddenly over Thao's commline. He heard her words and realized that the Star Adder camp a few kilometers from here were right on time. The problem was, he planned on being packed up and moving north by now. He was not in the mood to explain himself. The ambush he planned had to be called off and a _Kit Fox_ re-routed to spot for the now useless missile boats so they could blind fire a few volleys and try to slow LOKI down. He has still not received status of its success or failure yet. Beside that, the comm. went out on Gamma, meaning they were moving to get Steiner right now. He simply did not have the space to deal with some Star Adder commander trying to mark her territory.

"Pack up and move to intercept LOKI. Move to the northeast from here and follow these nav points to this overlook. I will update you en-route." He punched in the nav points to his computer and transmitted them to his entire trinary. They fed out and his troops instantly started moving north. He was not out of this yet…

* * *

By the time Gretchen arrived to the scene both the Night Hawks and LOKI were already gone. She told her troops, who were beginning to get restless to standby while she checked the orbital surveillance footage that her comm. vehicle just began decoding for her. It appears that the 212th reinforcements did not cover the east end of the valley like they had said they were going to. They left altogether and were heading on an interception course with the vehicle the Falcons were transporting Mechwarrior Kerry in. _How interesting…_she wondered, and gave the only order that was on her mind. "Follow me. I intend to find out what Mechwarrior Kerry has to do with these raiders."

Jeremy lost contact with Colonel Garris several minutes ago. Last he heard, the whole unit was under a missile barrage, and the screams followed. Mason Valerie's death was still heavy on the minds of everyone in his armored vehicle. The show was so shocking that he did not notice the elemental point drop right on his vehicle until the sound of their claws digging into the armor pierced his skull. CLAMP!

Michael Steiner had made himself somewhat comfortable in the back of the vehicle, enjoying the first cushioned chair he has been in in several months. He had his ear bandaged up and was sipping some water when the sounds of the late Mason Valerie broke his relaxation. He was still silent when the things landed on the roof above him. Unlike Jeremy, he knew exactly what these were and was not all that surprised when lasers cut the side door off and an elemental claw reached in grabbed him by the throat.

The seizing elemental threw Michael fifteen feet away straight into a tree trunk. The impact knocked him unconscious. The Falcon armored infantry then threw the demolition charge he was carrying into the vehicle and used his jump jets to vacate the area. The explosion was largely contained within the ride due to its construction. The rest of the elemental point picked Michael's body up and prepared for their trek to their rendezvous point.

* * *

"We have the package and are en route to nav point Epsilon. Raven Icaza out."

Star Captain Thao Prentice received the message and quickly contacted the rest of his trinary. "Night Hawks stand down. We have the package and are meeting up with Icaza and his men at nav point Epsilon. Alpha take lead, the rest follow."

Star Commander Bree spoke up over the private channel, "Star Captain, are you sure? We had LOKI on the run. If we give them a chance to regroup then we may never have another shot at taking them out. Think of what we could accomplish today."

"I am thinking Bree. I am sure Garris already HAS regrouped and may have a surprise waiting for us. Besides, our objective was Michael and if Garris plans on drawing us away from him, then he is in for a ride. We lost the initiative, let us not lose the mission, quiaff?"

"Aff commander. Just stating my opinion."

"Understood. Consider this discussion closed." Thao knows that Bree knows better than to second-guess him. But the thrill of battle can be much to her; much to all of them. He has it in his head to make sure he keeps perspective on everything. _The Lyrans have made fools of us too many times in the past by baiting us into combat and abusing Zellbrigen. This time, we make the rules.

* * *

_

Raven's troops moved several kilometers at elemental cruising speed, which wasn't fast, but with no vehicle it was as good as it was going to get. They closed the distance to a cliff side and got ready to pop their flairs for aerial extraction when a voice came over the commline into Point Commander Raven Icaza's headset. "Jade Falcon elemental, drop the body of Michael Steiner now and you will be allowed to leave unharmed."

Raven's reply was instantaneous, "Who is this?"

"This is Kommandant Allen Rowinstein. I am here to retrieve Michael, and you are in my way."

"Not a chance. As long as I have Michael strapped across my chest, you will not fire." Raven Icaza's back was now to the open cliff-face. He turned around to see his challenger and saw several Clan Star Adder front line 'mechs appear. _It would seem Jade Falcon 'mechs are not the only kind these spheroids know how to commandeer._

"True, but I will destroy your men and capture you. Then you will be subjected to interrogation for the entire trip to Tharkad." Rowinstein's voice was menacing, much like he delighted in the idea of torturing someone.

Raven again looked at the clearing below. His men could jump and land safely at the bottom, but they would be picked off like balloons afterward from above. This gave him only one choice, and he made it gladly. "Men," he said into his unit's commline. "You heard the man. Before us stand not Clan Star Adder warriors, but more Inner Sphere murderers." He let that sink in before he continued. "This is the end of the line. They will open fire on us any second. So I leave you with these words…"

"TAKE THEM WITH YOU!" Raven's men charged the 'mechs ahead of them like angry dogs after a desperate meal. Two were picked off by weapon's fire from Rowinstein's men, the other two managed to make it to one of Rowinstein's men in a _Stormcrow _and climb on board. Making their way to the cockpit the 'mech just stopped and let the one next to him take his time aiming at the aggressing elementals like this is a drill practiced many times before. The first elemental was shot off the _Stormcrow_ while the other one reached the cockpit and began peeling the glass off of the view port.

Nothing in this world is as scary as a crusader elemental peeling his way into your cockpit with just your service pistol at your side. If you have ever fought them, you know war flows through their veins. Raymond Kim watched in suspense as the last of that portion of glass disappeared from view and the Falcon elemental aimed his support laser through the hole at his head. He actually saw the eyes of the elemental pilot as his friend fired one round of his Ultra AC/5 at the crusader's back. The elemental's eyes opened wide as his laser slowly veered off and back until he fell off the _Stormcrow_ altogether and hit the ground thirty feet below. _Nothing in this world…_ Raymond kept thinking as he regained the controls of his 'mech and turned it to the one survivor of the infantry unit.

Raven Icaza stood there defiantly, arm raised at Rowinstein's _Night Gyr_. Everyone knew that Raven couldn't inflict any damage to Allen's machine with that, but the showing was incredible: absolutely no fear of death. "I will take your prize with me, you stravag bastard!" With that he fired and actually hit the _Night Gyr's_ cockpit as Michael, who was feigning unconsciousness suddenly jumped from Raven's other arm and cleared some distance between the two. Kommandant Rowinstein smiled at the easy prey presented before him now and simply squeezed the trigger of his control stick. Instantly several medium lasers fired and cooked Raven in a blaze of light and smoke. The melted slag remaining after the view was cleared resembled nothing of an elemental armor suit. It was a twisted, steaming mess of a resting place for a defiant warrior.

"Michael, how nice of you to join us again," Rowinstein said through the loudspeakers of his 'mech. He moved to close the distance to Michael when something caught the corner of his eye. Looking to the right he saw the Star Adder command star standing on the side of the closest hill, Gretchen Talasko's _Warhawk_ front and center.

"What is the meaning of this Star Captain Dermall? Who is Michael?" Gretchen strained her voice as she tried so hard to pull the pieces of this puzzle together. She knew in the back of her head that this wasn't right, but Rowinstein gave her no time to come to any conclusions. His entire unit responded with massive weapon's fire and her unit was nearly knocked off its feet.

* * *

The pounding they took was devastating, yet Gretchen and two of her star mates survived. Van Houten's ejection seat kicked in as soon as his heat reached the red, and Mechwarrior Harris made it because his _Cauldron-Born_ dropped as soon as its gyro was hit. The enemy ceased firing on him and concentrated on her. She only survived because her 'mech twisted when it fell and she hit the eject sequence with her seat pointed horizontally downrange. She fired across the ground past her aggressors and skidded into the dry ground to a halt just before the cliff drop-off. She was able to slip out of her restraints and jump over the side onto a ledge 12 feet below, out of view of her attackers. They left abruptly, satisfied of their work. She was sure of it.

* * *

Twenty minutes must have passed before dust was kicked over Gretchen's head by someone's foot above her on the cliff face. Looking up she found Miles Van Houten with his arm extended in a gesture of offering help. While this is the last thing she thought she would see, she accepted and was hoisted up onto the surface once again. It seems that the comm. vehicle and its two armored escorts made their way to her location. They called in another armored transport vehicle and a salvage crew to be air lifted in via VTOL craft.

The driver of the comm. vehicle briefed her on the current situation. She learned that the other two stars in her response force were routed and attacked. Many were destroyed. The wreckage was visible on the comm. vehicle's orbital surveillance monitors. Gretchen took her time studying the monitors, navigating the feed around to locate all the local units. Her base was not but 12 kilometers from her location, but she was looking in the other direction, at the retreating Jade Falcon unit from Strana Mechty that had Mechwarrior Kerry in a prisoner transport not but an hour ago, and the mysterious black unit with dark green piping and paint underlays. The green had a particular sheen to it that didn't reflect light enough to give away its position, but rather added an eerie element to the black of the 'mech itself. She could not identify much more about them other than it being a mixed force of high-end light, medium and heavy 'mechs. It did not appear to have any assault 'mech support. It was traveling in a zigzag pattern through some valleys and was doing an incredible job of minimizing the tracks it was making by using the terrain. _These are professionals _she thought to herself. The grace of every individual 'mech implies the skill of the total force.

"Ma'am, everyone has arrived."

She looked outside to see the salvage crew full of technicians deploying to the various fallen 'mechs. The new transport was dropped a few hundred meters from her location on some flat ground. The driver emerged sporting a long ponytail uncustomary for Star Adder troops, but allowable by standards. Even Gretchen allowed certain freedoms for those who went above and beyond in her unit. Though she kept them to a minimum because certain Star Captains shoot her angry looks when she does. The new transport vehicle was larger than the comm. unit, but still had the receiving capability. She ordered the decrypter to board the new vehicle and she jumped in along with Miles Van Houten, Mechwarrior Harris, the gunner and driver.

The decrypter immediately loaded the feed in the monitors and adjusted some signal boards. Everyone got comfortable while Miles started going through the ordinance packed into the rear compartment of the vehicle. He found explosives, chaffs, flairs, a rocket launcher with ammunition, rifles, restraints, rations and water recyclers. Enough to last them a week if needed. The rig traveled not but fifty feet before the feed cut out.

The vehicle immediately slammed to a halt and Gretchen removed herself while the decrypter checked the systems again. Minutes went by before a tech approached her and asked her if she needed any assistance. She asked him if he knew anything about orbital signals and the terrain here on Huntress.

"I might have just what you need. Please stand by ma'am." With that the tech ran to his vehicle and grabbed a portable battery, a tool belt, and an equipment case carrying God only knows what. If its one thing Gretchen had learned, never ask a tech what a piece in his personal collection is for unless you have some time to spare. At least in her experience…

The tech, named Nuyen entered the vehicle and began checking out the system while the comm. operator took a break. Nuyen left the vehicle and patched some wiring into the outside circuit panel and wired it into the battery he brought. The image instantly went online again.

"It has to do with the iron deposits on this continent and how the ECM jammer signals get bounced around some canyons and not others. You never know when you will be in a dead spot or not." He explained it with such enthusiasm it was surprising that it was not contagious.

Gretchen began studying the monitors when her eyes grew wide with surprise. "Stravag! The raiders are heading for us! What 'mech forces do we have outside?"

"None right now, just armored transport," Miles replied.

"Time for 300th reinforcements?"

"We are looking at twenty minutes minimum, maybe more. The 'mechs left there were part of the exercise and are not prepped yet."

Gretchen looked at the monitors again. Mere moments passed with nothing but silence before she made her decision. "Call the salvage crew back. Get them out of here. We are heading for Mechwarrior Kerry."

Nuyen started packing his stuff up when Gretchen put her hand on his shoulder. "You are coming with us; in case we need you again."

"Aff, commander," was his only reply. He then found a seat.

Gretchen looked up toward the front of the vehicle and spoke in a way that confirmed to everyone that she was in charge. "Driver! Follow your new nav points, and prepare for combat."


	3. Deep Secrets and Dark Truths

**Chapter Two: Deep Secrets and Dark Truths**

…_Extend the antenna, hit the red button, confirm the signal, pull the pin, place facing the target… _Armor Crewman Fredrick was muttering the instructions to himself as he placed the last of the explosives behind a series of rocks in the center of the road. He can already hear the target convoy approaching and he knows he needs to get back to his tank before it sees him. He stops to take one last glance out over the expanse before him. The road he turned into a minefield is on the edge of one of many canyons that populate this section of Huntress, and the valley below is more of a space between plateaus. It was beautiful to one that could sit and enjoy it. But anyone caught sitting here now would be dead before the image is imprinted into their memory. And that was _not_ Fredrick's idea of making the best of an assignment.

* * *

"You know, I never thought I would be firing at something and trying NOT to kill it."

"Hey, your job is easy. It is _my_ job to make sure we do not get killed after you 'miss'."

The radio in each of the armor crewmen's helmets crackled to life. Gretchen Talakso's voice rung familiarity into their heads, as well as puckered their ass holes in anticipation of a near suicide plan. _"Get ready. The convoy needs to go another two hundred meters before we start the fireworks. Acquire your target now and do not lose sight of him."_

"Aff my commander. He will barely know we are shooting at him," the gunner replied with heavy sarcasm. The driver just snickered.

The plan was rather simple, depending on how you looked at it. Gretchen Talasko surveyed the land ahead of the convoy containing the Star Adder 'mechs that attacked her command star and the vehicle with Mechwarrior Kerry. They claimed to be reinforcements from the 212th, but she had her doubts now, _though anything is possible anymore._ Her orbital surveillance feed provided a near perfect tool to planning their path and the following assault. The plan was to blow chaffs all over the road along the side of the cliff face and have a tank fire at the transport vehicle to make it look like the target of a sniper ambush. When the unit diverts forces to take the tank and its unseen support element out, pre-set explosives blow the area into turmoil, sending the prisoner vehicle speeding forward into the path of the second tank, whose only job is to ram it off the road and down the side of the hill. When it stops rolling and sliding down the side that Gretchen and her crew are waiting at, they grab the prisoner and run like bandits before the Adder unit can figure out what is going on.

The probability for casualties is very high, at least in the tank crewman area. The pilots know this however, and are not afraid. They know that if they succeed, then they will gain great honor. And if they fail, then their remains will be used as ash in the new sibko vats, which is a fate better than some. It took some work for Gretchen to convince the crewmen to go along with it, but the promise for survival was solely on the crewmen themselves, which gave them a certain amount of weight in their own fate. And crusaders love a challenge.

The convoy was almost to the point of execution, but her finger had to be steady. Setting the chaffs off too soon would screw the entire mission up and place everyone in danger. No, she would be steady and patient. Almost there, just another few meters…

* * *

The convoy had traveled at least 50 kilometers by now from the site of the last engagement, where they had taken out nearly two stars of Star Adder 'mechs. The success was one to boast about, but Karl Garris was rather stern in his timetables, and Kommandant Rowinstein was not about to get chewed out for being late. He hated truancy above all things. When the chaffs went off, the members of LOKI detached to Rowinstein's command all checked their radars for enemy contact. Each of them instantly leaned of the reason chaffs were deployed as their telemetry was all jacked to hell and metal signatures were reading all around them. Target acquisition was not going to be any easy task to an untrained eye or a steady mind.

Michael's new transport vehicle bucked under the weight of the gauss slug ripping its rear end off. He was just checking the monitors for enemy contacts along with the entire convoy when it hit. The arid air took no time invading the ride like some hungry plague, but it was the sand that spit up into the enclosure that affected him most. He could hear the driver behind him updating Kommandant Rowinstein of the situation. _"Sir! We have weapon's fire! Something just ripped the rear end off the vehicle!"_

Another shot missed wide and destroyed the rock structure just ahead of it. At this, several 'mechs under Rowinstein's orders turned and headed past it in an attempt to silence the sniper. They traveled on the side of the road away from the drop-off, which is exactly what Gretchen wanted them to do.

She triggered the explosives Fredrick had placed not but minutes ago and crippled one _Mad Dog_ and blew another _Cauldron-Born_ into the wall, shaving rocks off in every direction. The _Mad Dog_'s wreckage blocked the safe-side of the road in front of the vehicle, which just got the evasion orders from Rowinstein. The driver was to burn down the road and take cover from the angle of the sniper while the small detachment took the thing out from afar.

Explosions rocked all around the thing, sending sand and debris in through the gaping hole in the rear of the vehicle and caking the windshield every few seconds. Luckily, once it cleared the twisted pile that was once a _Mad Dog_, it had a nice escape cordon set up by the point 'mechs. It was a straight shot to the edge ahead and around the cor—SLAM!

The second tank under Gretchen's command beautifully executed a side-ram into the transport from behind some rocks hard enough to send it off the side of the cliff. It skidded down the steep face quickly, taking out all manner of ground foliage with it and destroying everything in its path. The tank itself fired off a gauss round at point blank range at the lead _Summoner_ before getting a chassis full of PPC and Autocannon return fire. The driver subsequently felt it was a better option to follow the vehicle down the side of the hill, and down it went.

"_Goddamnit!_ Five minutes from flat ground! Why do they _toy_ with us like this!" Kommandant Allen Rowinstein was furious. He plotted this path to knock his travel time into thirds with the risk of attack at this single bend and the bastards actually pulled something on him. He couldn't believe his luck right now. _It's going to take at least a half hour to get these 'mechs down there_ he thought. He knew that even the jump capable ones would have a real rough time landing in the brush below to get the Archon's cousin. There was no clear landing area, aside from the swath being cut as Michael's transport slid down the side. He saw the tank following it and doubted anyone could survive its trip. Unlike the transport, the tank was rolling end over end and banking off of some rock formations. The occupants would suffer too many concussions if they did survive to be of any use ever again.

"Find that sniper and take him out! I want all units to inspect their immediate area for planted explosives and I want all the jump capable 'mechs to figure out a way down there. Michael is going to be out of reach in a minute and I am NOT losing him like the last team did!" With that he signed off and started looking around his 'mech's feet for any sign of terrain manipulation. In a minute his radar would clear up and help out a little.

* * *

The sniper tank drove like a bat out of hell from the pursuing 'mechs. It would be in LRM range as soon as it crested the hill between it and them, and then it would be toast. The driver simply found a small hill, parked the rig behind it and got the hell out. He and the gunner hiked it back in the direction of their base on foot, knowing full well that their pursuers would have the option of returning to their convoy or hunting them down. This should give them at least a five-minute head start. The odds were in their favor. _Hell, _the driver though, _if they do not destroy my ride then we can just drive back later on._ It sounded nice, but he knew it was a fat chance.

* * *

The troop transport carrying Michael Steiner finally skidded to a halt on the plain 70 meters below his convoy. He was unconscious and the driver was dead from a nasty bump on the head. It took no time for Miles Van Houten and Mechwarrior Brenton to crawl through the hole in the rear caused by the distraction gauss round and pull him out. They boarded their own vehicle in mere seconds and began heading out of the area when the Star Adder tank under Gretchen's command finally landed several hundred meters away. Looking up she saw several 'mechs from the convoy standing at the road's edge, looking out to try and see what was going on.

Gretchen ordered the driver to pull up to the tank to check on the pilot and gunner. When they approached the rig they saw blood seeping out of the entry hatch. A few knocks later with no answer and no radio contact they abandoned the thing and headed out through the most heavily wooded path possible.

* * *

"Can we track it?" Kommandant Rowinstein was trying his best to keep composure over the commline. He fears he has no way of tracking that vehicle and retrieving the one person he was sent all this way for.

_"No sir. It escaped under the cover of the trees and made its way down the canyon. Without aerial recon we won't know where they went."_

"Then I want several scouts dispatched now. You said you only saw one transport vehicle?"

_"Yes sir. No support elements have been spotted. Just the two tanks."_

"Good. Pull your fast units and have them run patterns around this area. I want them moving out in concentric circles until they find what they're looking for."

_"Copy that sir." _The Warrant Officer First Class issued the orders and sent the men out. Four 'mechs in all were dispatched to find the vehicle. The two 'mechs sent after the sniper tank returned and gave their report. They found the tank abandoned and destroyed it after searching the area for survivors.

_This was the one location on this entire trip that they could have done this. Son of a bitch… This is one hell of a mess I'm going to have to explain to Karl. God help me…

* * *

_

The armored transport vehicle crawled to a halt around the bend that Gretchen Talasko picked out. As soon as they hit the canyon system the orbital surveillance system malfunctioned again. Tech Nuyen tried to fix it but failed. He said he would try again later if they change locations. The canyon walls were about 14 meters high on average, just enough to engulf an assault 'mech if it ever wondered down one of the winding paths. She planned on stretching and formulating a new plan with her prisoner in tow. Nuyen and the comm operator were rather elated at having succeeded in such a risky mission. Gretchen just chalked their enthusiasm up to them not seeing much combat before as the other members in the vehicle were rather quiet. Miles Van Houten wasted no time in approaching her. "Ma'am, could we talk in private?"

They walked a sufficient distance away before continuing. The other members were stretching, smoking, or simply walking around to get their bodies working again. Michael was still out cold in the back seat with the comm guy watching him. "I will not even begin with how concerned I am of your 'planning' today. You have consistently thrown your people into danger and almost certain death for an objective hardly worth go—"

Gretchen stopped him before he said something he was going to regret later. "Mechwarrior Kerry is the key to something large here. Members of the 212th opened fire on us outright and nearly wiped out my command! I need information Miles, and since you are not forthcoming with it, I will seek it elsewhere. Elsewhere today being that prisoner in the back of the rig," she replied pointing toward the vehicle.

"Star Colonel, with all due respect, I believe my input earlier on his retrieval would have spared the lives of several tank crewman and possibly your command. You have been reckless and impulsive. I see Kappa Galaxy and its training regimen has altered your methods of combat a little." Miles retorted with a low tone since he was hinting at her lack of honor in combat. He knew he was treading thin ice right now, but he didn't know if he was next on her list of casualties. "Do not mistaken me, I have no problem dying a warrior's death, but this is _not_ the way to go."

"Stand fast Star Captain! Your mouth will get you in a lot of trouble very soon." She walked a little bit farther off out of frustration. Then she turned herself toward him to finish this, "I have no idea why you hate me so much, but considering the circumstances today, we came out on top. Combat is fluid, and you would have died out there today several times if you had not followed your orders." Then she got in real close for this, "You forget who defeated your clan not but a year ago. Your system is dead, and so will you be if you continue this. I am in command here for a reason; and if you ever question my methods again, I will kill you where you stand. Deal with it, this is war," she walked off while finishing this sentence, giving him no room for rebuttal, "not your pathetic soap opera."

* * *

Gretchen returned to the APC to find everyone gone except the gunner and Mechwarrior Brenton. Brenton looked rather concerned past her at Star Captain Van Houten. She didn't even bother asking him in this state. She knows he served under Van Houten while still in Clan Burrock, and those two carry some kind of undying loyalty. She did ask the gunner where Mechwarrior Kerry was.

"He woke up and had to relieve himself ma'am. Lawrence went with him to supervise or whatever. He figured you wouldn't want him out on his own."

"Do not get lazy just because we are out here alone," she barked at him, showing off how pissed she is at the moment. For some reason, even something as simple as dealing with contractions in one's speech was enough to light her up right now. "Of course I do not want him out on his own. Is Lawrence armed?"

"Yes ma'am. He took a rifle from the munitions locker in the back. I think they went that way," he said pointing to some four-meter high rocks in the distance. There was enough of them to create a small labyrinth with openings, pockets, and cover.

"You think? Why would he take him all the way out there? Do any of you have a clue?" She stormed off toward the rocks in search of her hard won prisoner. God help whoever got in her way.

* * *

The rocks arrayed around formed a kind of circular enclosed room with several spaces providing ways in and out. It was a natural formation, but this planet had its little coincidences like that. In the cleared space about ten meters wide lay the bleeding corpse of Armor Crewman Lawrence. The driver of her vehicle kneeled over the lifeless victim and stared at him with indifferent eyes. Michael was nowhere to be found and the subtlety that appeared to be Lawrence's fate only angered Gretchen more.

She stopped when taking all of this in, wondering if the driver was a traitor as well; in on whatever the 212th troops were up to. She attempted to study the driver, who appeared unarmed. In fact, the rifle Lawrence supposedly took with him was nowhere to be found, presumably in the hands of Michael when he ran off. The scenarios were racing through Gretchen's mind like a holo-vid on fast-forward, trying to figure out how this went about. What interrupted her train of thought was the driver slowly turning his head in her direction; his eyes still indifferent, like he was contemplating something of far more importance when compared to any minor detail here.

Tech Nuyen suddenly appeared with a rifle and Michael behind him. Michael was still in restraints and Nuyen just stopped at the edge of the opening, waiting for the driver to acknowledge his presence. Gretchen looked over at Nuyen, "Tech Nuyen, what happened here?"

"Well ma'am, the driver of your armored car here murdered Lawrence in cold blood while trying to help Mechwarrior Kerry escape. I found the prisoner running and brought him back here to check his story out." Nuyen looked up at the driver now with narrow eyes while still speaking to Gretchen, "It appears that he was right. I will settle this Star Colonel."

With that he threw his rifle a few feet away onto the dusty ground and pulled a knife from his tool belt. He stripped off what was left of his gear and took several steps forward toward the calm recipient awaiting him in the center of the now improvised arena. The driver looked up at Nuyen with cold eyes and produced a Teflon coated combat knife from a sheath in one of his cargo pockets. In fact, upon further inspection, Gretchen realized that this was more of an assassin's knife than anything else. That alone for some reason infuriated her. The clans have steered away from assassinations and subterfuge in lieu of honorable combat, where victory goes to the superior warrior. The tech's courageousness and apparent loyalty to his fallen comrade intrigued Gretchen, who realized that they had only known each other for a day, and even belonged to different castes.

Gretchen unholstered her service pistol and held it on Mechwarrior Kerry to make sure he did not take advantage of this opportunity for escape. As soon as she got his attention, the fighting began. Nuyen held his knife with a loose hand in a jabbing fashion and was very fluid in his handling. The driver on the other hand, held his knife in reverse and moved with a confidence that defied any armor crewman. He was definitely skilled at this, and his crouching sidestep was further proof that this was not the man he seemed to be.

The battle itself was furious. Nuyen was aggressive with his knife, constantly going in for blood while the driver mainly maneuvered and blocked with his open hand, waiting for the perfect opening. They danced around for half a minute with no one gaining the upper hand until Nuyen drew first blood by grazing the driver's chest with the edge of his blade. The driver positioned himself with the graze to kick the inside of Nuyen's left leg. When he slightly buckled and hesitated due to the unexpected blow, the driver followed up with an elbow strike to Nuyen's chin and stabbed him in the left shoulder with the knife still reversed. The driver pulled his blade out as quickly as he inserted it and was instantly on the defensive again as Nuyen skillfully drove his opponent away with a flurry of jabs and slashes.

Nuyen took the offensive and again slashed the driver's chest, drawing much more blood this time. He followed up with a leg sweep that was avoided and the driver retaliated by head butting Nuyen hard enough to make him stammer. When the driver moved in for the killing blow Nuyen quickly maneuvered to trip him in such a way that he landed face-up on the ground, his head slamming into a rock in the process.

The sounds of scuffling stopped and Nuyen looked at his defeated opponent while a small amount of blood started spreading out from under his head. He was dead from the impact, lying limp and lifeless.

Gretchen approached Nuyen to congratulate him on a skillful victory. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

Nuyen remained silent and looked over at Michael in the distance, who also began his descent in toward the scene.

"Nuyen?" Gretchen repeated, wondering why he was not responding.

With that Nuyen turned and stabbed Gretchen Talasko in the side with his knife and kicked her backward hard into the ground. She dropped her pistol in the fall and just looked up at Nuyen as he peered over her, looking into her eyes with a change of demeanor. He was cold and wanting of death. Something was definitely wrong in her mind and it was reeling from the possibilities while trying to comprehend her own impending mortality.

"I am not tech Nuyen. He died this morning with the same blade that's in your side."

She just looked at him with a confused expression. _What is going on? Who is this?_ "Why?" was the only thing to escape her mouth. The blood spread from her wound through her shirt and was now saturating her uniform. It was dark, suggesting a wound to the liver, or right around it.

"I don't have the luxury of explaining it all to you, but in short…" he plucked the knife from her side, which only agitated the wound more and increased the pace of the blood escaping her body. He lifted the knife high, preparing for the killing blow to her head, "…Archon Katrina Steiner sends her regards."

At that his eyes went wide as he was kicked from behind in the tailbone. A hand seamlessly slipped around his face and the black assassin's knife slipped around the other side and opened Nuyen's throat like a scythe sliding through wheat. The amount of blood produced was sickening as it splattered all over Gretchen and the ground around her. The body of her would-be killer was flung away effortlessly by the driver of her APC that was thought dead only moments ago. He bent down to pick up the pistol she dropped and turned in time to expertly shoot Michael through his left knee as he attempted to run away.

Michael landed in a heap, writhing and groaning as he struggled to grab his gaping leg wound but failed due to his restraints.

The driver just looked at an even more confused and now lightheaded Gretchen Talasko and said calmly, "I am Julian Buhallin, a bloodnamed warrior of Clan Jade Falcon. The body behind me belongs to a Lyran spy who infiltrated your unit to bring his friend back home."

With that she passed out.

* * *

When Gretchen woke up she found herself in the APC. She had gauss and bandages around her stomach wound and a bottle of water next to her. Looking around she found Michael tied to one of the seats with gauss filling the knee cavity blown out earlier and Julian talking to Miles, Mechwarrior Brenton, and the gunner near the front of the vehicle. She called out to Miles, who approached her and helped her sit up.

Julian just sat on the consol beside Michael and got comfortable. "Glad to see you are awake. You lost a lot of blood out there, but the vehicle's med kit was enough to save you."

"So you are Jade Falcon, quiaff?"

"Aff. I apologize for the deception, but I knew that the chance for a Lyran operative making it into your unit was pretty high, and I did not want to lose dear Michael here." He looked over at Michael as he said that, giving a face that only agitated Michael further than his physical displacement had.

"Miles, have you gathered what is going on? I want some answers, and I want them now," she demanded with that command tone she was so known for.

"Actually, we were waiting for you to wake up. I did not want to repeat myself," Julian replied. Miles looked over at Julian with a hint of disdain on his face, but he stowed his lip, preferring to listen for the upcoming answers that have been long in coming.

Julian began his small presentation in a casual tone. It seemed like this rather emotionless man was enjoying himself as he enlightened everyone to the giant jigsaw puzzle this day has turned into. "You are looking at Michael Yorick Steiner: cousin to Archon Katrina Steiner and covert ops extraordinaire. Michael here was half of a two-man crew sent undercover to Strana Mechty to infiltrate my clan's ranks and hack into our command computer network to download our troop status and deployment patterns. The entire Jade Falcon military was an open book to them."

"How did he know how to get to Strana Mechty and do all that?" Gretchen asked.

"Speculation suggests that Katrina Steiner has a high ranking contact within the clans who likes to exchange 'favors' with her. Nothing has been confirmed yet."

"I see. What is he doing here?"

"Well, the guards caught him at the end of his download and killed his accomplice. Michael here somehow escaped and began running. I am part of the unit dispatched to capture him. He got this Jade Falcon uniform from somewhere and consorted with members of the bandit caste for survival."

"Hence the prosthetic arm."

"Exactly." Julian turned his head to look at Michael. "You want to tell her about your friends or should I?"

Michael remained silent.

Julian just smiled a satisfactory smirk as he continued. "The people who nearly killed your command unit were really members of LOKI, the premier insurgency unit in the Lyran Intelligence network. They are also the ones who took re-furbished 'mechs from our Coventry campaign and fabricated codexes and uniforms to pose as a Jade Falcon second-line cluster. The people who approached your camp to take Michael prisoner were in cahoots with the Adder unit that shot you down. They were all Lyran spies."

All this was hard to absorb. Julian was rattling this all off like it was common knowledge and not a big deal. The mere thought of this insanity was like listening to an old Terran fairy tale of giants and magic bean stalks. "How do you expect me to believe all this? How could Inner Sphere barbarians infiltrate the clan home worlds and make this kind of mess?" she inquired. The shock and skepticism in her voice was rather apparent.

"The Inner Sphere knows how to fight the low war, they have been doing it for centuries. The clans are still years behind them. Katrina wanted her cousin back, so her unit is here to make sure the information he has is put to good use. This is what they do."

"So who were the ambushers outside my camp?"

"I can not disclose that information here, but I can tell you in private if you wish."

"Okay, so one final question then…" She narrowed her eyes when asking this, expecting an answer that would give her permission to kill him. "What happened to the driver of this vehicle?"

Julian smiled, "He is probably looking for an ice pack to tie to his head right now."

* * *

Just walking made Gretchen wish she were still asleep. The pain of movement was much, and she did not want to re-open a wound that really should get professional medical attention. Despite the pain though, she wanted the answer to the biggest mystery in her head right now. She and Julian walked a good hundred meters or so from the vehicle before stopping to talk. It was night now as she had been out for quite a few hours. The arid air was starting to cool off and she welcomed the change. Julian was indifferent to the temperature like he was with her mood.

"Okay, we are in private now. Who are you and who are those men that ambushed the Falcon unit outside my camp?" A thick air of agitation was still showing through her words.

"I told you, that was a Lyran unit in disguise. The people who attacked them were the 32nd Special Operations Unit of the Jade Falcon Watch. We are the premier covert ops unit for the clan and carry out all manner of intelligence gathering and infiltrations."

"The clans wield no such weapon! It is absurd to think that the most conservative of all the clans would lower itself to assassins and thieves!" She was appalled at the idea of such dishonorable tactics used by any descendent of Kerensky.

"Would you keep your voice down please? It does kind of echo in here." She noticed Julian relaxing more and more as he was alone with her.

"Look," he began, trying to keep his voice calm, "I am just telling you what you asked me to. I am under orders not to reveal anything about who I work for. I am telling you this because I think you are a capable leader and might be able to help us."

"Help you? How could I do that?"

"Well, you do command the men guarding the prisoner in there," he pointed back at the vehicle. "I could kill you all and run off with Michael now, taking my chances with LOKI on my own…"

"Okay, okay, I get your point. I just… covert ops?" She was still struggling to comprehend it all.

"Yes," Julian sighed. "We were in the Inner Sphere pulling some recon of the Exiled Wolf Clan when this happened. Next thing we knew, we were on the first trip back to the home worlds. I know it is a large pill to swallow, but LOKI is here to kill anyone who gets in the way of its objective, and right now that includes you."

"What if I just let him go?"

"Then I would truly feel sorry for you. Not only would Khan Marthe Pryde have it in for the Lyran Alliance, but Clan Star Adder as well. Do you really want that kind of hell wreaked on your people?"

"You will have to do better than that," she spoke, confident as ever.

"Okay, then do it to avenge your command unit. Ten pilots in your trinary alone were killed by LOKI, not including whoever owned those 'mechs they were using previously."

"You mean…"

"Covert ops is a dirty world Star Colonel. Never put anything past them. At least my unit still observes the concept of Honor."

"Honor in posing as a warrior in another clan and faking death in a knife fight?"

"Hey, at least I did not kill you when I had the chance."

He let that sit for a moment. Gretchen knew that he was well within his power to kill her and leave her unit for death at the hands of LOKI a few hours ago. The mere fact that he told her all that he had may put him in danger. She had finally heard enough.

"All right," she said. "I am going to get word to Galaxy Commander Carlos Hutchinson and get reinforcements in here. Then I will help you sort through this mess of yours under one condition."

"Name it."

Gretchen's eyes narrowed and her voice lowered to set the mood appropriately. "I get a chance at revenge against the Lyrans who tried to make a fool of my clan and stain it with their impurities."

"Well bargained and done Star Colonel Gretchen Talasko."

"Well bargained and done."

* * *

They departed for a communications relay station after two hours. Gretchen kept watch while the other troops slept since she just recently woke up. Julian Buhallin stayed up with her, though conversation stayed to a minimum. When the timer rang, they were off with Mechwarrior Brenton driving and Michael drugged up due to his knee injury. The trip was not more than forty minutes in when the LOKI recon 'mech assigned by Kommandant Rowinstein caught the tracks of the armored transport. Under the rising sun it followed them, casting a long shadow over the canyon as it approached. It was just a matter of minutes before contact was made. And after that, it was seconds before their world once again erupted into chaos.

"Uhh, Star Colonel?" Armor Crewman Adrian manned the gun on the rear of the vehicle. The sensor pod lit up with a single blip, and each pulse of the radar sent back a reading showing the blip moving. It was closing in, _fast_.

"Yes Adrian?"

"We have possible enemy contact approaching from the rear. It is still outside the canyon." He shouted his answer back without turning his head from the direction of the enemy.

"Brenton, keep this thing in the canyon and step it up a notch. I want to see if it knows where we are."

"Ma'am, it knows. It is kicking rocks over the cliff wall right now!" Adrian took his aim and fired several rounds of his duel Ultra 2 Autocannons at the thing. The sun helped obscure his vision enough to send the shots astray. Lucky for them, the canyon wall was still high enough to cause trouble for the 'mech if it wanted to get close enough to shoot down at them.

Gretchen hurried to the portside view port to witness an _Adder's_ upper torso bobbing along the cliff-face above them. Rocks and pebbles were rolling over the edge from its feet as it tried to get close enough to peer into the canyon but stay up on the surface.

The gunner let off multiple bursts of Autocannon fire at the 'mech, all missing to some degree. Gretchen wasn't sure if he was trying to hit it or deter it from getting too close to the edge. After the third burst, the 'mech disappeared. Telemetry still showed it in the area and heading quickly past them along the edge. Gretchen consulted the orbital surveillance monitor to find the system still malfunctioning.

Suddenly the vehicle bucked from incoming fire on its port side. The clang of the cluster munitions used rocked the transport in several locations, disorienting the passengers inside. _Okay, _Gretchen thought to herself. _This tells me one thing already. That was a cluster round from an LBX Autocannon, which means that 'mech is an alternate B configuration. It would probably be moot to keep firing at us with that thing, so it will probably start using the medium lasers next._ She sped to the front of the transport to find Brenton at the wheel expertly driving the thing through several shallow curves and turns in the canyon. "Brenton, we need to stay erratic! Keep away from the walls, it has cluster munitions it can use to make rock debris a serious problem right now."

"Aff commander. The station is only 22 clicks away, but that 'mech has the height advantage. This is going to be rough."

Suddenly the _Adder_ appeared on the cliff-face ahead of them and fired off both of its medium lasers at them simultaneously. Brenton reacted quickly and dodged right, forcing the shots to generate large dirt pockets behind them. Adrian attempted counter fire, but the jerking of the vehicle made his shots stray off again. _It so helps to have an actual armor crewman drive one of these things…_ he kept thinking to himself. The _Adder_ fired again, this time one shot hitting the top of the vehicle and the other hitting the wall behind them. "Stravag!" Brenton shouted as he shot the vehicle left to keep him out of the _Adder's_ crosshairs. They were almost under the _Adder_ now as it had not moved since it appeared, taking its time steadying its guns.

One more shot from its Autocannon did the trick. The gun itself was close enough that the cluster munitions would be fairly concentrated as they hit the vehicle. Adrian's gunner area was penetrated by multiple flak shells, pounding his station into useless scrap and perforating him in several places. _Well, there goes our defenses,_ Gretchen thought as the _Adder_ turned and started to follow them as they passed it in the canyon below.

Julian calmly removed Adrian from the gunner's station and laid him into one of the transport seats. He then proceeded to open the munitions locker and started packing items into his vest and pockets.

"What are you doing?" Gretchen asked with come concern.

There was no reply as Julian packed three rings of grenades around his waist, a laser rifle around his back, slung the rocket launcher around one shoulder and three rockets (in a pack) around the other one. He then picked up one of the two satchel charges from inside the locker, a single incendiary grenade, and proceeded to the med kit station where he picked up the super adhesive. It was used to instantly close bleeding wounds on the battlefield in lieu of gauss, and several techs had found many good uses for it outside the realm of medicine.

Gretchen walked up to him to listen to what he had to say when he pushed her aside and opened the side door of the vehicle. He grabbed the overhead support beam and somehow, despite the weight around his body now, acrobatically jumped out the side and over the edge using his hands as a swing so he landed face down on the roof of the vehicle. Gretchen yelled up to him, "I hope you know what you are doing!" and then closed the door to keep the debris out and the people in.

* * *

Julian loaded one rocket into the launcher and propped himself up on the roof of the transport so he was pointing behind it. He aimed carefully at the spot the _Adder_ would most likely next show up and covered the trigger of the launcher with a relaxed finger. When the _Adder_ showed itself, gearing for another laser barrage, Julian fired his rocket. The _Adder_ saw this and did not move to evade since it would mess its laser shot up if it did. After all, the anti-armor rocket was not enough to disable an omnimech in one shot anyway. The lasers fired off before the rocket hit. One again hit the wall next to the vehicle, forcing Julian to take cover from incoming rock debris while the other one hit the back of the vehicle, causing it to jump slightly. The armor in the rear was nearly gone as Julian could now see pieces of it litter the canyon floor behind them. The rocket hit the right leg of the 'mech, blackening some of the armor around the joint. If any useful damage was inflicted, Julian could not see it from here.

He began to load the second rocket when the vehicle suddenly turned a corner. The shift in weight accompanied by a small bump due to the rocky ground knocked the rocket loose from his hands. It rolled off the vehicle and skidded across the canyon floor. The third one loaded correctly and Julian took careful aim once again at the location the _Adder_ would most likely show up next. Right when the 'mech's upper torso was exposed, Julian fired the last rocket at the top of the cliff-face, right under where the foot of the 'mech would be. The hit was successful as the ground under the incoming _Adder's_ foot gave way and dropped the 'mech into the canyon onto its side! The crashing noise was echoed through the vein-like canyon system of twists and turns, and dust instantly rose around the machine to mask its recovery.

With this, Julian ditched the launcher and started plucking the release locks from the first grenade string he had. When the last one was gone, he threw it to the left side of the canyon and pulled his second string out. When the recovered _Adder_ finally made way around to see him, walking through the canyon with an elite mechwarrior's grace, the grenades went off, shooting all manner of rocks and debris right into the machine. It was not injured, but it did throw the thing off course for a few moments. Julian armed the second string and threw it to the same side just as the vehicle rounded another bend. The effect was the same on the 'mech, who was constantly veering right to avoid the debris. Julian plucked a single grenade from the third string to keep for later as he started priming the rest. It was ready to go when Julian looked quickly behind him to confirm his timing. He threw the grenades to the same side of the canyon again before the next bend to the right, and when the vehicle rounded, jumped off.

He landed in a very painful yet somewhat graceful roll, but luckily most of his baggage has been discarded at this point. He started running for the rocky face of the inside wall bending in and providing him cover from the incoming _Adder_ as the third string of grenades went off around the corner. He coated the burst side of the satchel charge with the adhesive and opened the small trigger panel before leaping onto the cliff wall and climbing to knee-level for the 'mech.

The Lyran pilot was fairly efficient at recognizing patterns at this point and remained along the right wall to minimize the debris slamming into his 'mech from the grenades. He really wondered what the clanners hoped to accomplish with these measly munitions, but his was not to question. His was to inform Rowinstein of the location of their prize. Rounding the corner he finished relaying the coordinates to his commander and missed the figure jumping from the very near cliff wall onto his 'mech's leg. What tipped him off that something was wrong was the absence of that pesky clanner on the top of the vehicle ahead that was throwing the grenades all over the place. _Where the hell…_he thought as events quickly unfolded outside that would determine his fate.

Julian hit the leg hard and struggled to keep a grip for as long as he needed. The reverse-leg design of certain omnimechs made it easier to hold on to if you are on the thigh portion, which he just barely made. After cramming the charge into the gouge in the knee joint's armor he made previously with that rocket, he jumped clear as hard as he could behind it hoping to make that large rock ahead for cover before the charge went off.

He did.

The charge ate right into the internal structure of the leg and blew the working components of the joint right to hell. The _Adder_ instantly collapsed to its right, smashing into the canyon wall before descending to the ground with an ear splitting screech signifying the metal sliding on rock.

The Lyran pilot just sat in his cockpit dumfounded. He had no clue what had happened, only that if the top of his 'mech were not wedged between the canyon floor and a rocky wall, he could attempt to raise it again. But that was proving difficult, albeit, impossible. "Sir! Sir! My 'mech has been disabled! I don't know how, but I'm stuck here in this damn canyon and Michael is getting away! That clanner, I think he…" the pilot started turning his head around to visibly display his concern, "I think he's around here. I mean, I think he took my leg out after jumping off the transport!"

"_What? That's crazy! Listen, stay put and I will have a team there pronto. Just keep your bearing and get ready for pickup when the troops arrive."_ Rowinstein was directly handling the situation from his end.

The pilot heard a rapping at his cockpit window. He snapped his head around to see Julian standing there, tapping the glass with the butt of his rifle. "Copy that sir," the pilot replied. "Over and out."

Julian jerked his head in a motion telling the pilot to exit his 'mech and get out there. The Lyran promptly refused, cussing all sorts of obscenities at the clanner. It's not that Julian was particularly scary, it was just his demeanor: he stood calmly outside the cockpit and peered in at him like a cat stares into a birdcage and studies its prey.

Julian made a move to the cockpit hatch and left the view of the window for a moment. The Lyran, deciding his pistol was no match for the rifle the clanner had outside, and confident in his teammates making it there soon, wedged the hatch shut with some support rods that were hooked into his seat.

With that he saw Julian again standing outside. The clanner just shrugged indifference and moved lower down the 'mech, again out of sight of the pilot. Julian fired his laser rifle into a series of bolts and recesses to blow a maintenance access panel just below the cockpit open. About eight shots did it. He then pulled the release lock of his saved fragmentation grenade and rolled it inside, closed the panel door, and walked back to the front of the 'mech.

The explosion slightly shook the 'mech and rocked the cockpit. There was no ammunition in the area to be affected by it, and the pilot knew that his cockpit was well armored, though the sound was deafening from inside there. Showing defiance to the clanner outside, the Lyran just laughed and yelled at him. His plan didn't work and he wanted to see some kind of emotion from the guy. But Julian showed none, he just stood there with the same cold expression he had before. He produced a second grenade and started walking toward the maintenance panel again. The panel was blown out and blackened from the previous grenade, which only gave Julian more space to plant the second one. He peered into the hole momentarily to confirm what he had hoped, and then pulled the lock and rolled it in.

The pilot heard a rattle with the second one and looked down at the bottom corner of his cockpit to find a small hole that was blown open with the last grenade. It couldn't have been any larger than his fist. What alarmed him was the fact that the second grenade landed right in front of the hole, showing enough to make the Lyran's blood run cold. It was colored red, which was the universal color of an _incendiary_ grenade.

Julian turned his back and started to walk away from the downed 'mech as the firebomb went off, flash cooking the pilot inside. The sound was muffled and he heard no screams, yet Julian did not look back to confirm his kill, because he has been doing this for so long that he simply felt it around him when life was extinguished. Call it a gift, call it a curse, he just called it progress.

After walking several hundred meters down the canyon, he saw the Star Adder transport vehicle waiting for him. _I guess I made some friends today after all _he thought.

* * *

_"I think he's around here. I mean, I think he took my leg out after jumping off the transport!"_

"Oh yeah, that is him." Thao Prentice just finished listening to the last radio transmission intercepted from Rowinstein's recon units. Since the coordinates were sent over electronically via an encrypted signal it would take some time to get a fix on them. As good as the Night Hawks were, LOKI was using a decryption code it must have installed locally on every 'mech it commandeered to prevent the kind of activity Thao was trying now. He just sighed and sat back, looking over the maps he has of this sector of the continent.

"There," he said, sending the image to all of his units' cockpit monitors. "That is the only canyon system complex enough to give that much hell to a LOKI pilot." He was sure of it, as all the other systems were too shallow or short for the kind of pursuit the Lyran mechwarrior described. "You know the drill, Alpha in front: forward wedge. Do _not_ enter the canyon upon approach. I will update everyone later when we get there."

With that the Night Hawks departed for their comrade. Julian was a friend of Thao's as they have served in the same unit for most of their careers. Kael Pershaw pulls people for the Night Hawks early in their career to form the needed skills early and make capable veterans to teach the new generations. While Thao was innovative and outgoing, Julian was very introverted and quiet. Thao has to keep reminding himself when inviting his friend out for fussionaires that Julian sees dredges of war that the rest of the unit is spared, and uses many people when he is under cover to help him achieve his goals. Those people are usually enemies though, and end up dead most of the time. Even an enemy comrade is hard to lose after a while because a human being can only betray so many people before detaching himself from his friends. It becomes hard do disassociate your friends from your 'useful contacts' sometimes, and isolation is the natural way to cope with it. But what is a man without his friends? When you see the stuff Julian does every day, you know he needs you, even if he acts like he doesn't. So Thao will always stick his neck out for him and minimize the conflict when addressing the rest of the unit. They are like a family, but every family has its complications, and no family, at least in Thao's mind, had the complications of a conservative clan's special operations unit. One whose job regularly threatens to violate the code of honor that all of its members were raised under. _ We are coming for you Julian, just as always.

* * *

_

Gretchen and her makeshift unit finally made it to the communications relay station. They departed the vehicle and entered the single access room with the programming computers and decoders. The station was not large, but it could fit several people in its maintenance room, and had room of the roof for a few as well.

Inside, Mechwarrior Brenton tried to raise the comm., but failed. The signal was not getting through.

"All this way with technology and what have we ended up with on Huntress? The freeborn Smoke Jaguars have yet to produce anything useful." The tone in Gretchen's voice did not show the irritation she was known for as of late, but a more 'I told you so' kind of demeanor.

"You can't stop us. The Colonel is on his way now, and he doesn't ever lose." Michael inhaled heavily as the drugs were starting to wear off but still inhibiting his speech and motor skills. "Ever…"

Gretchen asked Brenton, "Well, what is the problem? Is the station out or are we still jammed?"

Brenton answered in an inquisitive tone, "What could possibly jam us out here?"

"Heh…" Michael chirped, then began laughing in a drunken manner.

"What is his problem now?" Miles inquired.

"The drugs are starting to wear off, but I may have miscalculated the dose, so he might be intoxicated for a while," Julian answered.

"A while?" Miles Van Houten sighed his disapproval and shook his head.

"A while now!" Michael shouted. "You are so screwed. Hehehaha."

Brenton looked back at his commanding officer after going through some system checks, "Well, after checking it out, it does look like we are jammed; but it has to be local. There are not any canyons around to mess this up."

A short silence followed; the only noise was Michael laughing in the corner.

All of a sudden Gretchen looked up with a serious thought in her mind. She glared at Michael who instantly shut up and looked like he was accused of something. "What…?" was his only response.

"You and Nuyen are on the same team. He came in and fixed the signal before…" She moved in close to Michael and put her hand on his wounded knee. "What did he do?"

"What, you think I'm gonna talk after what you did to my knee! Piss off!" he replied, spit shooting out at several words due to his drunken state. She had to hand it to him; he still wasn't giving answers, even after she jammed her thumb into his knee. He screamed a little and looked at her with eyes that burned of pure hatred. "You will die today… you… filthy clanners…"

"Talk about lack of composure…" Miles stated while referring to Michael's sudden hostility.

"It is some good stuff. They use it to tranquilize Hell's Horses," Julian explained.

"Wow, we had that in our med kit?"

"Neg, I always keep some on m…"

"Brenton! Search the APC for a portable jammer and disable it. You two, I could give a rat's ass about the tranquilizer; get me what you can from that comm. unit." Gretchen got up and watched the two men start working the unit. Within two minutes Miles accessed a collection of sound files.

"Ma'am, we found all the previous transmissions sent through here in the last few days."

After some thought she said, "Look for anything to Epsilon Command."

The speakers started their thing and a distress message to Epsilon Command rang through the room. _"Epsilon Command, this is Star Colonel Maeko Guidice with the 13th Adder Assault Cluster. The 212th's depot in sector 14 was destroyed. A trinary of omnimechs are gone and the entire command staff is laying in a line on the ground with a bullet wound through each of their heads."_

"Kerensky help us…" Gretchen said in shock and horror.

Just then Mechwarrior Brenton re-entered the station with a destroyed mini-jammer in his hand. His face was white. "Ma'am, I found the jammer and took it out as you ordered. The orbital feed came back instantly… and the Star Adder units that attacked our command stars are on their way here. I count thirteen of their 'mechs inbound. And…"

"Yes, make it quick," Gretchen ordered, not wanting to miss the rest of the transmission.

"They linked up with that Jade Falcon—err… LOKI unit in the Falcon 'mechs that came to our outpost earlier. It is all one big attack mass."

Gretchen put her hand up to silence Brenton as the transmission hit the critical part she was waiting for.

"And Galaxy Commander Hutchinson, the underground storage compound was compromised… and we count one missing."

Gretchen's mind raced to catch up with the evolving situation. "What is it?" Miles inquired, curious about the changing expressions on her face.

She knew something the rest of them didn't. She knew information that only Cluster Commanders and above are given privy to. "That was a secret nuclear munitions storage depot."

The gravity of the situation slowly settled into Van Houten's head as Julian spoke up. "If the Lyrans cannot have Michael, then no one can. And if they blow up all evidence of them being here before word gets out, then it looks like the Jade Falcons rolled in there, executed a trinary, and lit a nuke off, wiping out…"

"Yes…" was Gretchen's only response, showing that she had just reached the same conclusion.

"That would be…" Miles again trailed off as the consequences played through for him.

"That would be an act of war," Gretchen finished for him.


	4. Fog of War

**Chapter Three: Fog of War**

_Oh, what men we have become…tyrants and liars in the face of duty. If that Zellbrigen really worked I would almost find it attractive, but you can't win wars by holding back against an enemy who fights dirty. And, funny as it is, the dirtiness is on my side this time. Though I wonder if the clans even know how tyrannical they've become themselves? …If they can even recount why the crusade was started in the first place…_ Doubts flowed through Karl Garris' mind again and again, reminding him of the complexities of his life. In another life he could've been a professor, or a child psychologist. He loved to help people, which in turn helped himself.

But the world he lives in is constantly filled with war, and his mind is perfect for it. At least that's what his superiors keep telling him. He thought he was just quick on his feet, mentally speaking. Either way, that picture of his family that keeps him company on these long away missions was not keeping his mind clear today, but adding anxiety. He wanted to be able to look at his daughter and tell her the great things he does when she asks, but even he does not like recounting the numerous memories of his life. It is for her that he does what he does, and he keeps that imprint to help him focus once again.

He linked up with Rowinstein and heard yet another string of bad news. Luckily for him, Allen did get the nuke and the location of where Michael and that group of Star Adders are holding up. _He has his uses, and I can take advantage of them if I can keep his leash short enough._ The problem was that Rowinstein lost his family when the Jade Falcons invaded in 3050. His resourcefulness is usually unmatched, but when confronting any of the clans he turns whatever control factor he has off, becoming hotheaded, vengeful, uncontrollable at times, and worst of all, an inspiration to his men.

This mission was sticky enough if it weren't for that. Karl now had in his service 24 'mechs, two vehicles, a dropship, and one nuclear warhead. He was preparing to retrieve the object of his small conquest and put all this behind him. He knows the Crusaders will never surrender and that Michael will have to be taken by force. He could issue a trial of possession, but any chance of him not winning would scratch the entire mission, and that was an unacceptable risk. So he planned on giving them an ultimatum. At least this way he had his chest cleared for yet another massacre. The only trick was to do this without the Star Adders sending for reinforcements, and hope to get off-planet without that black Jade Falcon unit nailing him to a wall again.

_That black unit…_ Karl insisted thinking about, _they fight with the ferocity of all the Falcons I've seen, but don't follow their standard rules of engagement. In fact, I still can't figure out what their strategy was before. Are they always that unpredictable? This makes them dangerous, albeit, as dangerous as any other unit out there capable of destroying eight of my men in half an hour. _This, as no one actually knew, was the only thing Karl ever came close to fearing: a clan unit free to wage war with no predictable tendencies. He thought it best to push that anxiety to the back of his head again and only deal with that bridge if it crashes out from under him later.

He keyed the Dropship commander and told him to prep for a hot extraction, just in case. Then he conferred with the driver of the vehicle transporting the nuclear warhead. That was his trump card if he failed, clearing the Lyran Alliance of any blame and possibly igniting a war between the Jade Falcons and the Star Adders. _Can we make this any more complicated?

* * *

_

Thao Prentice closed his eyes in an attempt to calm himself. The day's events were stressful enough without the intervention of the Star Adder military.

"_Identify yourselves," _the voice repeated through Thao's headset. He was staring at an _Executioner_ and a whole load of Star Adder front line units, ten total. One star consisted of assault 'mechs and the other was full of heavy 'mechs. Thao had been pushing his unit toward the canyon system when he hit the last section of foliage. The radio transmission came first, then the radar confirmation. Thao thought it best to hang in the woods and ensure his encounter happened there instead of in the open. If they do go at it, he'll need to do maximum damage while losing minimum men. He had none to spare as he was outnumbered by LOKI already. The Star Adder unit commander introduced himself as Star Captain Terrek of the 13th Adder Assault Cluster, Epsilon Galaxy.

"This is Star Captain Thao Prentice of Clan Jade Falcon," he replied. Thao was already running combat scenarios through his head as to how he could bypass this binary without fully engaging it. So far he hadn't come up with any successful ones.

"_What are you doing in Star Adder territory?"_ the same man asked.

"I am here to retrieve a member of my unit who is in danger of attack from enemy forces as we speak."

"_You mean our forces."_

"No, I mean _enemy_ forces. We are not the only ones here." Thao let his etiquette drop momentarily to show this Star Captain how frustrated he becomes when no one listens to what he has to say, even though he knew it would draw the response he didn't have time for…

"_Explain yourself. You have thirty seconds."_ Star Captain Terrek's voice dropped to a menacing tone, which had no effect on Thao whatsoever.

He knew that earlier in his career he would have acted with the same sense of duty and stubbornness as this Terrek, but it didn't make the situation any easier to deal with. "I do not even have that much time. I demand pass. I will speak with your galaxy commander afterwards."

"_There will be no such arrangement. I am here—"_

"I have orders to retrieve one of my men before he dies, and you are in my way," Thao interrupted.

"And I am under orders to secure our border. You are trespassing and have tried my patience enough. How many of your units will defend themselves?"

"You are kidding, right?" Thao thought it best to test Terrek's patience and figure out how his men will react. Much to his regret the Star Adder binary arrayed in front of him arranged itself into a combat formation, its members picking out single targets.

"Star Captain Terrek, hear me now and hear me well. I am going after my man, whether you are in my way or not. The lives of your men rest in your hands now, they make no difference to me. You ask yourself if you want to do this."

"How many units will defend themselves? If you do not answer then I will open fire on all of them until you surrender. Five… four…"

Thao put his head back and sighed. He opened up the comm link and spoke to his troops. "I want us out of here ASAP. Inflict enough damage to scatter them and press on, understand?"

"… _Three…"_

Each Star Commander in the 32nd replied back to him in the same determined tone of voice showing full well that they knew what they were getting into, _"Aff Commander."_

"… _Two…"_

"… _One…" _

Thao Prentice fired both of his PPCs directly into Star Captain Terrek's _Executioner_. The resulting impact knocked Terrek's shots wide and Thao pressed the charge. He continued with his own medium lasers and banked right, behind some other troops and into some foliage to draw fire from his men behind him and give them some direction to follow, not to mention cool down from the immense heat buildup his machine was suffering right now. His _Hellbringer_ was modified to his specifications, increasing the armor rating and improving a few weak areas, but heat was not one of them. Almost every unit at once fired at their designated target, erupting the forest into an instant war zone.

His unit knows that fighting head to head is just a competition of armor and heat sinks, so they immediately dispersed into the coverage behind them. The Star Adder troops pursued, but found themselves the object of target practice as the Night Hawks had units retreating under cover while others took aimed shots at their pursuers. The Adders took their cover and the firing slowed a bit.

"_I see you Falcons still believe in honorable combat?"_ Star Captain Terrek instigated over the general commline. While Thao's force technically outnumbered the Star Adder binary, the Adders were still sporting assault 'mechs that were simply devastating at this range, and the Night Hawks knew that this was not the last engagement they would participate in by the day's end.

Thao was paying him no attention as he was getting news from his dropship captain. _"We found an entire binary of medium bombers heading for your area from the nearest Star Adder airbase. I sent the 32nd Combat Support binary out to cover you. They are also equipped with smoke barriers."_

"Beautiful. ETA?"

"Three minutes for the Adder units, but they will receive contact from our fighters in two and a half. You should be fine for the most part if they start bombing, but plan for the worst."

"Aff. Thao Prentice out." Thao knew this was either going to turn out bad, or devastatingly worse. He punched in the nav point to the best area suitable for a smokescreen between the Night Hawks and the Adder aggressors. It would take a little less than four minutes to get there anyway, so it may all fall together. "Night Hawks! We have incoming! Adder bombers are en route to knock us around, but we have our own air support backing us up. Get over to the new rally point and prepare for a smokescreen. When it hits, I want us moved out and heading toward that canyon location."

His men moved and returned fire while miles away a new confrontation was forming…

* * *

Far above the surface of Huntress, twenty aerospace fighters raced against time to intercept a binary of Star Adder bombers en route to their forces on the ground. The Star Adders were not know to break Zellbrigen so quickly and use unbidden aerospace power in an engagement, but today seemed to be an anomaly in itself, and nothing was impossible anymore. It didn't help that the combat below wasn't a trial. 

Star Captain Gregors finally got the signal from his communication display that the Star Adder bombers were in range. His cockpit was rather spacious compared to other medium fighter chassis, but the upcoming situation created a certain amount of tension that only made the whole world feel small around him. Luckily he had to look no further than the window to see the vastness around him and help him feel as liberated as any pilot does on such a nice day. He initiated contact while assessing their force strength. It seemed that another binary of fighters was behind them and would reach the area approximately two minutes after the initial engagement. This left Gregors very little time to accomplish what he needed to. This also suggested that the Star Adders scrambled on a moment's notice and might be unprepared to deal with an unplanned air confrontation. _If only I were the strategic manipulator…_ Gregors though. His was always the most practical approach.

"Star Adder bombers, this is Star Captain Gregors of Clan Jade Falcon. Please state the reason for your planned interference of the ground engagement below."

The response came back instantly, suggesting the Adder unit was about to talk to them soon anyway. _"Star Captain Gregors, this is Star Captain Nicholas of Clan Star Adder. I have received orders to prevent the Jade Falcon ground units from reaching the canyon system in violation of the border treaty in place by our respective commands. They are to be stopped and interrogated for the recent pillaging of our storehouses to the southeast or destroyed if uncooperative."_

Gregors felt a ping of anxiety in the back of his head. He knew this wasn't going to be easy. "Star Captain Nicholas, circumstances have occurred confusing your command of the situation below. The Jade Falcon unit currently engaged is not responsible for the raids on your facilities and is on a mission from our Khan to retrieve a target of interest to all the clans within your border."

Gregors knew this was coming, _"So who attacked our facilities several hours ago?"_

"A Lyran special forces unit attacked your facilities posing as a Jade Falcon binary. They have commandeered several Star Adder 'mechs and are currently headed toward a destination far from here. Your efforts are only hampering the mission of my unit and hurting any chance you may have at containing this mess."

"_That is preposterous! An Inner Sphere unit in disguise?"_ Star Captain Nicholas laughed as he replied, which irritated Gregors, but really, could he blame him? If the reversed positions, Gregors knew he would be laughing himself.

"Aff. All will be explained afterward, but I need that unit to reach its destination."

"_Stand by…" _Star Captain Nicholas chuckled again as he responded. Gregors knew this wasn't going to fly. He waited while Nicholas routed the new information to his command and received guidance. _"Do you have any proof to back your story up? If not, then we will be forced to commence bombing your units as they have reached the edge of our objective area."_

Gregors dipped his head in defeat as he replied. He was already arming his weapons systems and watching the status display of his binary as each of his men did the same. "I have no evidence as of yet. If you commence bombing I will be forced to defend my unit. Your escort will not be here in time to save you."

"_It makes no difference to us; we have our orders. I will see you over the battlefield."_ Gregors cursed inside his head at the news. He knew the bomber unit had some air-to-air capability, and the air escort would definitely tip the odds in the Adder's favor by virtually outnumbering the Falcons two to one. But Gregors' unit was highly trained in scenarios such as this and he had no fear of engagement, only anxiety. He knew that getting Thao Prentice out of there safely was the only acceptable outcome, regardless of how well his unit fares in the air. It was a cruddy feeling, one of honor and a sense of duty, but cruddy nonetheless, because Crusaders fought to win, not to stall an enemy.

* * *

The Night Hawks were faring pretty well considering the firepower being concentrated on them. They had successfully provided cover for themselves and made it to the edge of the canyon system. Thao did not want his 'mechs to actually enter the canyons, as that would make easy targets for the incoming bombers, but he needed to get in the area to track Julian down and end this thing once and for all. He effectively got his entire unit there losing only one 'mech and suffering damage to another extensive enough to make it pretty useless in any further engagements. The Star Adder unit suffered three losses and two 'mechs were injured to the point of them having to drop out of combat or slow everyone else down. Thao was able to maneuver his unit to an overlook and trap several Adder 'mechs in a rocky upgrade. Multiple alpha strikes whittled two of the heavy 'mechs and one of the assault 'mechs down to wreckage, causing serious blockage and slowing the ascent of the rest of the Adder binary. Cover fire caught two more Adder units who broke through the overlook entrance but sped too far ahead of their comrades below and got caught without any backup. Thao had Star Commander Bree send two fresh units to hold them off and they did just that. When the Adder units nearly powered down, the two Night Hawks disengaged to rejoin everyone downrange. 

He got the word that his fighter detail was inbound and punched coordinates in for the smoke screen. It was a matter of seconds now before his entire trinary booked it hard along the canyon system to their lost member.

The Jade Falcon fighters actually reached the site first, dropping the smoke screen payload and pulling off to engage the Adder bombers. The fighting over the battlefield had grown instantly lethal as two bombers dropped under the weight of enemy fire, and several tons of ordinance descended into the expanding wall of smoke that the Night Hawks were using for cover. The sight was overwhelming and the noise alone shook the ground for what seemed like miles. The explosions lit up from within the smoke wall, causing an eerie reddish-orange overcast down on everything around it. It quite literally looked like the gates of hell, if anyone involved believed in such a thing.

Luckily for the Night Hawks, there were already emerging from the other side and the majority of the ordinance just hit rocks. Enough hit a rear defender and blew enough internal structure out of it that it nearly turned into a noodle, and another 'mech suffered massive damage to its rear armor and was in fear of getting sniped in the back as the unit moved on down the canyon system. The entire unit has pulled countless hours running drills such as this, dispersing erratically through a smoke field to avoid air-to-ground ordinance. Once out of the smoke however, their fighter detail had to keep the bombers from making a return run and dowsing the 'mech unit with a barrage of laser and PPC fire. Today, Gregors did just that.

Thao pressed onward and out of range of the slower Adder assault 'mechs behind him. The further he got from the smoke wall, the more the sun shined through and clear it became. It was very metaphorical to those that could appreciate it, though there was way too much to think about right now for anyone on the ground to notice. By the time he heard news of Star Captain Gregors and his unit's results of the engagement he was away from the action and nearing the final destination of his trip.

Gregors lost twelve units and destroyed near twenty-one Star Adder fighters and bombers. Kael Pershaw picked Gregors because of his experience fighting Inner Sphere dog fighters, and that experience paid off today it seems. The Adder bombers pulled out after severe losses and the fighters broke the engagement on mutual terms with the Jade Falcon force. No side was going to gain anything from an air victory today. The bombers suffered the most as they flew into a wall of laser and PPC fire when dropping their ordinance. They lifted from their strafing runs and attempted to engage the Falcons when the actual dogfight began. The Falcons had the initiative however, and made the Adder bombers pay a dear price before their fighter escort arrived. The Adders' arrival was brilliant, taking nearly four Falcon fighters down in the first volley, but the numbers started to waver and kills alternated after that with Gregors' light fighters drawing fire and outmaneuvering the medium Adder fighters, while the Falcon mediums concentrated on taking the bombers out. It ended in a draw as they both decided it a pyrrhic victory for either side if continued.

Telemetry picked up the tail end of LOKI's support elements: the vehicles. They were out of range for the ECMs employed to protect them and they let Thao know exactly where to set his men up. The ETA was a while out however, and he knew much could happen within the time it took him to reach the end. His unit pressed on in the direction of the LOKI formation and hosted an eerie silence not often experienced by this unit of outgoing warriors. This was a grim day if they had ever had one. _It was bad enough fighting Inner Sphere Special Forces units, but now I have to deal with Star Adder regulars. They will send more units now that they know where I am heading. Stravag! My men are slowly disappearing and I need to get to Michael before they extract him to Tharkad. Come on Julian, do your thing and hold out long enough for us…

* * *

_

"Finally!" Gretchen Talasko just connected with Epsilon command through the relay station's transmitter. The signal was routed through several stations and had to be approved for reception at the command post since it wasn't encrypted. "This is Star Colonel Talasko of the 300th Adder Sentinels. I need to speak with Galaxy Commander Carlos Hutchinson immediately."

The return signal was delayed, which made her wonder how delayed her signal was in reaching them, _"Ma'am, Galaxy Commander Carlos Hutchinson stepped out, may I hand you to his aide—" _instantly Carlos's deep voice filled the small room in the relay station, _"This is Carlos Hutchinson. What in Kerensky's name is going on down there?"_

"Sir, the 212th Sheet Lightning has been compromised. The Jade Falcon unit—" the signal started muting out as she began the last sentence. The reply was garbled and muted as well, coming in short bursts of fragmented speech, _"Wha—Star Colonel? Jad—cons --cked facility at---"_

It was all she heard before the explosion outside jarred the entire relay station. The ringing in her ears overrode most of what was going on, but her vision told her that Julian and Miles were up and peering outside to see what the source of the explosion was while Adrian checked the prisonerand Brenton checked the comm system. Her world was nearly soundless for several seconds. When her hearing came to, she saw Julian Buhallin and Miles Van Houten look at her with frustrated looks on their faces. This told her all she needed to know. LOKI was finally here. The footsteps of its 'mechs approaching started reverberating the floor of the small compound.

"Status," she commanded.

"Ma'am, it looks like an LRM hit the main power generators." As she looked around she noticed the communications equipment was all offline. Well, not just offline, as she figured out after a few moments, but off altogether.

"What about the backup generators? Why did they not kick in right away?"

Brenton looked up at her, "I do not know. I will go check on it." With that he grabbed some of his tools and slid out the door to the rear of the facility, using it to hide his presence from the approaching threat in the form of over twenty battlemechs.

* * *

Karl Garris noticed his scanner intercepting a signal from a local relay station. This station was the point of reference in his view screen for the last minute or so, so it didn't surprise him any. He listened in and waited for him to close range for his LRMs to lock on to the power generator of the structure. He would shoot out the dish, but he didn't want to risk injuring Michael, who he assumed was in side with the rest of them. A single LRM did the trick, albeit the explosion was larger than he thought it would be. 

He approached the structure and stopped two hundred meters away, the remnants of his unit waited behind him in formation. He activated the loudspeakers on his 'mech and addressed the person in charge, "Clan Star Adder, I am Karl Garris of the Lyran Alliance. As you have guessed by now, I am here for Michael, and will not hesitate to kill all of you to prevent him from remaining your prisoner. Let him go unharmed however, and I will leave this planet and spare you your lives. This is a one-time offer. You have one minute to respond."

Gretchen was inside the compound listening. She had no way to communicate back to him since the communications array was out of commission. Mechwarrior Brenton finally checked in over the handheld radio, _"Ma'am, it looks like the backup generator is okay, but a large piece of shrapnel severed the ground wiring from it to the inside consol. It did not cook the hardware, so if you give me a few minutes, I can have it up and running again."_

"Work like the wind Mechwarrior. Let me know the moment you are finished," was her reply. She then looked at Miles and asked him for any ideas. He said he only had one, but was reluctant to tell her without shaking his head and smiling like it was an amusing joke. Surprisingly enough, Julian added on to it a little and they started preparing.

Karl Garris was growing impatient in the cockpit of his _Timber Wolf_. The only plan he saw that didn't end in the possible execution of Michael was sending men in on foot, which he did not want to do at this moment. He started his 'mech forward when he saw several bodies leave the station and enter the transport vehicle parked outside. The vehicle started up and drove in his direction until it was about 40 meters from him. He sent two 'mechs up to it along with himself to secure a perimeter and find out what the reply would be to his demands. The rest of LOKI panned out and secured the entire area.

The door of the vehicle slid open and Michael, looking somewhat inebriated stepped out of the vehicle with a satchel charge strapped across his chest. Someone's arm was holding him back from making a run from it. No other body was visible from his 'mech's view port. "Michael, are you okay?" he asked over the loudspeaker.

There was no reply, but he did not want him out there long. Karl gave the order to one of his men to dismount his 'mech and retrieve Michael. The _Summoner _to his right powered down and Staff Sergeant Halloway scrambled down to comply. The other 'mech was to cover him and make sure the Star Adders didn't try anything fanatical. As the Sergeant approached Michael, Garris' external mic picked up another sound. It sounded like another door opening. The Staff Sergeant reported, "Sir, it looks like they strapped an explosive to his chest. I have to get a closer look to make sure what it is."

Karl contacted his dropship and gave the order for it to proceed to his location for a hot extraction after Michael was secured. Staff Sergeant Halloway started his way over to him when it all went to hell.

Right then several grenades went off around the vehicle including smoke grenades, flash bangs and signal flares. The entire vicinity exploded into chaos while the vehicle skidded off right through the legs of the _Mad Dog _guarding the Staff Sergeant on the ground. "What happened? Report! Did you see them get in the vehicle!" Karl was first attempting to gather information from the men around him before hunting for answers himself. He knew if it came to that, then there wouldn't be many Star Adder survivors.

"Sir! This is Sergeant Halloway! He still might be here somewhere! I don't think I saw jump back in the vehicle!"

"Are you sure? I will not have them fire on it if there is a chance Michael is still in there."

Karl waited a second for a reply that never came. "Halloway?"

* * *

Several things were happening right under Karl's nose that had yet to be illuminated. The first was Adrian pulling Michael back into the vehicle while Julian jumped out the other side under the cover of smoke and flares while it sped off. The second was Julian killing Sergeant Halloway with his favorite assassin's knife. The third was Julian scaling the empty 'mech of the late Sergeant Halloway and powering it up. By the time Karl noticed the _Summoner_ next to him moving, the _Mad Dog _was already sporting two unusable arms as simultaneous autocannon and PPC fire from Julian's requisitioned _Summoner_ tore them to pieces at such a short distance. Julian then fired his jump jets and soared over Karl to nail a distant _Glass Spider_ in the center torso. 

"That's it! It's online!" Brenton exclaimed to his Star Colonel as he finished running some extension cables to reroute the ground current from the backup generator to the communication console inside the station.

Normally Gretchen would have reprimanded such a degradation of a warrior's speech, but now was not the time to bicker about such. She watched as the computer rebooted and went through its system checks.

* * *

"Hey, Clanner! I challenge you to a duel." Warrant Officer Dennis Brady's request was heeded by not only Julian, but also everyone else in the unit. Enough return fire hit Julian to make his 'mech far under par for such a duel, but he stopped firing nonetheless to face his opponent. "You killed a recon pilot earlier today. Cooked him in his cockpit, didn't you?" 

"_Aye." _Was the only reply received from the now subdued _Summoner_.

"Well, to you he might have just been another 'target', but he was my friend. I will see you suffer as much as he did." Brady moved his _Matador_ up to Julian's _Summoner_, imposing an impressive sight. _There are fewer than 24 Matadors outside Clan Steel Viper, and this cocky punk gets a hold of one. Figures._ Julian had to see the humor in that.

"Honor among Inner Sphere Stravags is definitely rare this evening. Revenge however, is below my concern. I will battle you to the death. I will take you all on if I have to." And with that, Julian's Summoner opened up with everything it had at Brady. If anyone has gone up against a Summoner before, they would know that its prime variant doesn't run hot often, and Julian was definitely taking advantage of that right now. Brady tried his best to avoid the sudden attack, failing several times to stop the PPC and autocannon fire from nailing his lower torso, near the gyro. He did, however, return fire just as aggressively, forcing his Matador to move with the shots to avoid recoil.

LOKI formed a messy circle around the combat, which was neck and neck. Brady was known among his comrades as a hot head, but has shown an interesting level of concentration when in one on one 'mech battles. This was no exception. Garris however, was concerned again at his scanner lighting up. It seems that the relay station was attempting to transmit again. "I told you to cut it OUT!" he yelled to himself as he opened up with a PPC blast to the dish receiver on the roof of the station, instantly disabling it and causing several small fires and collapsing support structures on the roof. The signal was instantly cut.

* * *

Gretchen couldn't believe it. After all that work, the dish was just… gone. The sound was unmistakable and the noise, good God the noise was almost overwhelming again. The computer monitors were still up, but no long-range transmission was possible now. She had again just reached the Star Adder Epsilon Galaxy command post before the dish was shot out. Now she just sat in the corner, pushing the pain in her brain back to keep herself capable of concentrating on another solution when it just hit her, _this is it. I may die here at the hands of these Inner Sphere scum and there is nothing I can do about it. No way I can fight back. I am stuck on foot with this crappy rifle and one transport vehicle flailing around outside trying not to get shot to hell. Heh, it does not even have a functioning weapon, all it has is the satellite picture. At least if I were in there I could get a grand view of my death._

She sat there in a muddle when it suddenly hit her. "The satellite receiver! Brenton, can that vehicle out there route a signal from here to Epsilon command!"

His head slowly rose in understanding of her plan. "Aff. In fact, it can even encrypt it and keep the message hidden from that commander out there."

"Do it!" she commanded while keying her radio.

* * *

_"Miles! I need you!"_ Miles Van Houten's headset lit up like an annoying mosquito so common in the humid areas of Huntress. "I am kind of busy right now!" was all he could get out of his mouth. He took the vehicle for a stroll toward a rolling hill arena. This area was a little more humid than the canyons, so it had some amount of vegetation he could use for cover. His job was to give several LOKI agents a good chase and keep them off Julian's back. Of course, only three 'mechs followed him, so that still left Julian with some 20 'mechs or so to deal with. _It was better than nothing though,_ he kept thinking. 

_"Miles, I need you to turn the short range receiver on in the comm station and set the encrypter to the second automatic setting and plug Epsilon's signal in there." _A volley of short-range missiles nearly missed Miles by several meters, sending shock waves that rocked his vehicle up on two wheels for a short time. He turned sharply to his right, then waited, then to his left. He had to stay erratic and unpredictable or else these damn Lyrans would turn his ride into a two-ton screen door. "Adrian! Do what she said!" he shouted back into the vehicle. "It may take a while ma'am, Adrian is still wounded and Michael still needs a babysitter."

_"This message can stop a war between us and the Jade Falcons. You realize how important that is, quiaff?"_

He looked back into the vehicle for a split moment when he hit a short straight away. He saw the computer running and the video feed through the monitor. "Aff. Let me find a hideaway so we can gear it all up for you. It may—" another hit knocked the rear end of his vehicle off the ground and over a few feet, causing him to lose concentration. "It may take a few minutes."

_"Time is something we do not have Star Captain. Let me know when it is done. Gretchen Talasko out."_

* * *

Julian was having a really bad streak. This entire battle was full of little mistakes that he could not avoid. His _Summoner_ took enough damage before this duel started to make some techs cringe, but this Brady was no joke. He missed his share of shots, but was incredibly adept at heat management and maneuvering. Julian had a hard time maintaining a bead on him when moving laterally, and got nailed in the chest repeatedly when rushing in to close the distance. His only advantage is that he hit Brady's gyro a moment ago with a well placed PPC bolt and slowed his progress a bit. His major disadvantage, beside the fact that his left torso armor was all over the ground behind him was that he wasn't fighting to win, but to stall these guys. Gretchen needed to get her message out and Thao needed to get his ass over here pronto. It didn't occur to him that he may actually die today, but, like all true crusaders, he did not fear it. He only welcomed it if he were fighting to the death, which he was not doing at this moment. _How the words of my falconer ring so true right now. It was so generic and corny back in the day… _He reminisced about how his falconer went on about the honor of dying in combat and how the glory of the clan was shown through the sacrifice of great warriors back in his basic training days. But if he died making time for people that would more than likely die anyway, what honor was to be gained? 

He pushed all the doubts aside and concentrated on the lower torso of Brady's _Matador_, determined to prolong this duel to buy time for the others. Brady let off several Streak SRM volleys at Julian's left torso, tearing up the internal structure there and disabling his left arm. _Well, there goes my autocannon, _he thought. Another two laser hits nailed his engine shielding. _Things are not looking so good right now…_ he thought as he took careful aim. Brady dashed to his right just as Julian predicted while closing the distance. Julian fired his PPC directly into the _Matador's_ gyro housing, screwing it over and forcing the 'mech to grab onto Julian's _Summoner_ for support. The weight drug Julian's 'mech down in front, and Brady saw him though their cockpit viewing ports. His parting shot was the hand of his 'mech's left arm reaching out and grabbing Julian's cockpit, pulling it under his 'mech's torso as he fell on it. The resounding noise of the two giant machines falling into a heap was the last anyone in LOKI heard save the three 'mechs sent after the vehicle in the distance crashing through some forest in their pursuit. All was silent as the entire LOKI unit watched for signs of life inside either of the great war machines strewn on the ground. They found none.

* * *

Miles just managed to roll twice down a hillside while avoiding the latest barrage of laser fire aimed at his vehicle. It surprisingly landed on its wheels, but the disorientation forced him to take a few moments to regain his sense of balance. When he looked around, he noticed that his location was rather inaccessible from battlemechs and that he had a few moments for Adrian to fix up the communications systems. When he moved to assist however, he found that his arm was fractured in the rolls and his ulna was sticking out of his forearm, making a point in the sleeve of his uniform what was soaking in blood. The pain suddenly became enormously distracting as the adrenaline calmed, yet he had a mission to fulfill. _After this I am getting some of that Hell's Horses tranquilizer,_ he thought with a smirk. 

He turned enough to keep an eye on Michael while he made a makeshift splint with a loose panel covering and Adrian did his thing at the consol. He was no encrypter, but he did seem to learn a thing or two after hanging out with them.

Adrian turned the short-range receiver on and programmed the encrypter and long-range transmitter to the Epsilon command frequency. After that he got on the horn with Star Colonel Talasko. "Star Colonel, the system is up and running. Speak when ready. I cannot tell you if the thing is received or not since I do not know how to work the long range receiver."

Mechwarrior Brenton's voice came over the link and gave him quick instructions on how to set up a direct feed link through the vehicle's computer. After that Gretchen started her report to Epsilon command. She quickly explained the Lyran insurgents and their mission. She explained the truth behind the storehouse raids, and the real intention of the Jade Falcon unit in the black paint scheme. The Galaxy Commander was rather skeptical, but she gave him an oath of honor that she has verified this information and is telling the truth. He reluctantly accepted and told her that Star Adder reinforcements are en route to get her out of there and a trinary of 'mech hunter aerotech fighters is being dispatched immediately to respond to the Lyran threat. Through all this Miles found that his pursuing 'mechs found the transport and were trying to launch missiles into its area. He sped out of the enclosure and back up the hill into the foliage, forcing them to turn around and give chase again. He patched the satellite feed to the forward monitor this time, and it gave him a complete real-time view of his terrain and opponents, making his job infinitely easier. He also saw something that just made a smile creep across his face and forget about the pain in his arm and the pursuing Lyrans all at once.

* * *

Colonel Karl Garris sent several teams out to find Michael and get him into the trailing vehicles. Last he heard from Halloway before his corpse was found near Garris' 'mech's foot was that he didn't jump into the vehicle. At this point he wanted to make sure that the area was covered. Word from the three 'mechs dispatched to take care of the vehicle was that he was brilliantly avoiding all line of site with them through some forest. This situation was getting more frustrating by the moment. That is when he saw them. He looked up through his windshield and viewed a _Kit Fox_ and an _Incubus_ in black crest a hill ahead of him. His blood went cold when he realized that his men were all separated into search teams and easily divisible. He immediately ordered the teams back and considered opening communication with the Jade Falcon leader, as he would surely be listening for one, but decided against it. The time for diplomacy has passed. His dropship would be here soon and he needed this area secured. So he did the only thing that came into his mind with an absolute amount of certainty. He raised the right arm of his mech, and fired. 

With that, several of his men rushed past him and gave chase to the two light Falcon 'mechs as they disappeared over the hill again. That is when he heard it. _"Lyran commander, this is Star Captain Thao Prentice of Clan Jade Falcon. I challenge you to a trial of possession for one measly relay station and the grounds surrounding it. How many units will defend it?"_

"As many as I have," was his reply. All of his men were still regrouping and he turned around to see Thao in his Hellbringer approach with seven 'mechs in tow. "I outnumber you and have the defensive advantage. Surrender now and I will spare the lives of your friends in the station."

_"Poorly bargained. I will give you a minute to consider your position."_ Karl Garris heard Thao's response and wondered how a man with less than half the units of his opposing force can speak so boldly. And that is when his comm link lit up. "Colonel Garris, come in. This is Admiral Grant of the dropship Iron Gauntlet."

"I'm here Admiral. I am kind of busy, so if you could keep this short—"

_"We're down. A whole mess of Clan fighters appeared and told us to land while we were heading to your location. We lit up our defenses and took some of them out, but they ruined the main engines and we went down. We've sustained massive damage, oh God I don't know how many survived."_ Karl let all this settle into his mind. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. The Star Adders have taken matters into their own hands. _"Karl, I can't get you home. We're stuck here, if we survive." _A long pause followed. _"I'm sorry."_

"Help out your men Admiral, I will do what I have to over here. Colonel Garris out." Karl just sat there in awe. _All these decades, all the successful missions, the duty, the strength of House Steiner… I never expected it to end in such a mess. We were so close. _He looked at the picture of his family in his cockpit and touched it gently. A feeling of regret shot through his head as his brain tried to recall the last moments he spent with them.

"No," he said to himself. He would not allow this to overwhelm him. He was stuck, yes, but that dropship still had Jade Falcon markings on it. It was close enough to be wiped out by the blast. He straightened up, inhaled, and gave the order. "Sheridan, detonate it. Do what you have to, we'll cover you from our end." With that he gave the orders to his men. "Men, we have been through a lot. We have seen the horrors that the Clans have bestowed upon our people, and we have done what we can to stop them. Feel good that you have served House Steiner well, that your families will remember you in a good way."

He let that settle in for a moment before he continued, "Our dropship has been disabled. We are stuck here on this God forsaken planet surrounded by the same Clanners that we have come to destroy. Today, we let go of our past and fight for the moment. We go down fighting so that the Clans know just how strong we truly are." He inhaled for this last part, the last thing he would address his people with. "Give 'em hell."

With that Rowinstein led the charge toward Thao and his support group while Sheridan started working on the nuke. The standard time to trigger a nuke in the Lyran Alliance military was 35 seconds. The standard time to hot wire a clan-made nuke under fire was about to be known soon enough.

* * *

Miles Van Houten was peeling around another bend in the tree line when his three pursuers suddenly pulled off and left him alone. He stopped, wondering if it was some kind of ruse to get him out of his cover when he looked at the satellite feed and saw mass combat ensuing. He saw the Falcon unit Julian spoke about approach, but he didn't know that they would open with a grand melee. Things were messy enough as it was and he was desperately searching for the one variable that he didn't know Julian's unit knew about… the nuke. _There!_ Miles found the vehicle making slow turns around the battlefield trying not to sit still and become a target of opportunity. The second vehicle with LOKI was a smaller armored car, so it could not have been carrying the warhead. _It has to be that one _he thought to himself. "Star Colonel, I have identified the vehicle with the nuclear warhead in it. It is the covered truck driving laterally across your station's point of view. You need to take it out somehow. I am driving up there now to assist." 

Gretchen sat up and tried to discern what he was telling her, "What? What do you mean by that?"

"I do not know exactly yet, but I will when I get there." Miles jammed on the gas to get his vehicle onto the battlefield as fast as possible.

Gretchen grabbed the rifle and the box of goodies taken from the transport along with the tools Brenton had grabbed earlier. She grabbed him by the arm and said, "Come with me. I need a spotter," then headed for the service ladder that lead to the roof.

* * *

Thao had found Colonel Garris' _Timber Wolf_ and managed to single it out. Both commanders knew they were fighting each other and commenced one on one battle amidst the chaos of a grand melee. They just fought their hearts out: one for honor, the other for closure. They could almost feel the power in the eyes of their adversary if they were close enough to see him through his cockpit's glass. This was war at its finest. 

Rowinstein found several targets and was alternating between all of them as Thao's troops bowed under the weight of all the firepower being aimed at them. No words were spoken; no courtesies extended. Rowinstein had dispatched one 'mech already as he watched two more Falcon units go down under heavy fire. They already took six of his troops out and were still fighting, though hopelessly outnumbered. Another Falcon went down. They just couldn't stand when being fired at from so many directions. Several LOKI operatives formed a hunting party with him and they wondered the battlefield, finding a target and concentrating their fire on it until it fell. _This is only a matter of time,_ he thought. Aside from the dropship going down and the nuke being set, he was determined to kill every last one of these filthy clanners before the end. It was the only thing on his mind.

Gretchen set up on the roof of the complex under partial cover of the wreckage lain about by Garris' PPC bolt that knocked the dish out. She attached the limited scope she had on the rifle and had Brenton set up with binoculars confirming her target and watching for incoming fire. She found the vehicle under Brenton's directions, but knew that her laser rifle would not penetrate the truck's side armor. It was pretty pointless to her to even be up here, but this is what Miles wanted. _If he has a plan, he had better throw it up now, _she thought.

Miles finally reached the battlefield as the tore-up vehicle he was driving managed to straighten out after a dangerously sharp turn. He took a second to confirm the truck and circled around to catch it moving away from the relay station. He kept his distance so as to not tip off the other driver of his plan. _"Miles, are you ready?"_ Gretchen's voice fluttered in his ear and only tensed him more as the target vehicle turned away from the station. He knew he would only get one shot at this. The armored transport vehicle that had been through more fire in one day than an entire second line cluster could on the Clan homeworlds in their tenure straightened out on a collision course with the covered truck housing a nuclear warhead. Adrian and Michael filed out of the back and Miles hit the gas. _Straight into oblivion,_ he thought with a smile.

* * *

The fighting was hitting its climax. Thao and Garris were still trading shots; several of their weapons had been disabled already. Garris' _Timber Wolf's_ right missile launcher was lying on the ground somewhere and his right arm was a mangled mess of moyomer and ferro-fibrous armor. Thao's _Hellbringer's_ left arm and torso looked like they were fed through a giant garbage disposal. Each held his own and managed his machine like a true master under the tightest conditions. 

A Falcon _Black Lanner_ made its way toward the relay station and was shot down from behind by Rowinstein and his cohorts. He caught a glimpse of Gretchen on the roof and fired a few autocannon rounds at her to amuse himself. After sufficiently rearranging that part of the station's roof, he turned once more to another Falcon 'mech and continued hunting.

Gretchen's right leg had a nasty piece of metal lodged in it now as she crawled her way back to the edge of the roof. The area around her was nothing but scrap metal and searing hot shrapnel. "Brenton! I need you back on the edge."

"Aff, Comman-- cough, Commander." Brenton must have caught some debris in the chest, because he was wheezing like some wild Huntress bore as he climbed his way back to the edge. He was counting down the seconds to impact between Miles' armored transport and the covered truck for her as she zeroed in on the back of the target, at the opening in the rear. She needed his field of vision to keep perspective on the whole thing. He was almost down to the single digits when another autocannon round smashed into the roof, sending both of them flying backward into the mangled roof of the relay station.

The demolitions tech was just about done arming the nuke. He had broken through twelve security codes and hacked through the timer program. It took him some time but he finally managed to override the timer with a button trigger, which he figured would be better since the sounds of warfare were only getting louder around him. He only had to attach the control stick and program the driver to accept the external trigger. _Done!_ He stopped for just a few seconds to realize what he was going to do, to comprehend the amount of power he was going to be authorized to unleash across this planet's surface when he made the call. "Colonel Garris, it's ready. On your mark…"

Garris waited only a handful of seconds when he finally spat out the order. Standing his 'mech still like a warrior in a climatic movie scene awaiting his execution, he sentenced everyone in the area to death. "Do it."

**SMASH!** The nuclear warhead suddenly broke free from its supports as the vehicle lurched with unperceivable force backward, throwing the technician right out the rear opening and forcing the edge of the warhead over the rear tailgate. He stood up instantly and realized his leg was twisted. No matter, he had to reach that panel and hit the button. The screaming in the background and the heat searing up his body would not stay him until the single laser beam pierced his skull and drained all the life out of his hand as it finally wrapped around the control stick. His lifeless body fell and the sounds of war continued all around it like nothing had happened. Just a ripple in the water.

Gretchen took her finger off the trigger and moved the scope's view around until she confirmed Miles' well being. He jumped from his vehicle after accelerating to ramming speed and landed on his bad arm when the vehicles collided, knocking the technician out of the rear of the covered truck, right into view of Gretchen's scope. After watching Miles pass out on the ground, she called out to Brenton to make sure he was okay. There was no answer. Despite the growing roar of battle behind her and the searing pain in her leg, she started rummaging through the rubble of the most recent autocannon barrage. After several minutes, she found Brenton's hand sticking out from under the corner of a structure that had to weigh several tons. It was lifeless and still. The stench of blood and burnt flesh hung in the air around her while the sulfur burned her nostrils, but none of it affected her. All was quiet and serene in her mind. All was soon to be quiet around her.

The sudden roar of a trinary of Star Adder bombers nearly rattled the wreckage right off the roof. Several devastating missile volleys dismantled multiple LOKI 'mechs and knocked the rest off their feet. Of the nine surviving men in Garris' unit, seven got their 'mechs up and took to the canyons for cover, obeying the command of Kommandant Rowinstein, who was determined to regroup and take shots at the incoming bombers on their second run. Rowinstein led them over and turned around, expecting to provide one final surprise for the clanners. Garris' 'mech just laid there on the ground, knocked off its feet by Thao's _Hellbringer_, which nearly overheated with that last PPC bolt that took Garris' _Timber Wolf's_ leg out from under it when he paused expecting the nuke to go off. He simply raised his mech's left arm toward Thao in one final act of defiance when the _Hellbringer_ fired its PPC one final time into the cockpit of his crippled 'mech. The _Hellbringer's_ auto-shutdown sequence kicked in and Thao pealed himself out of a smoldering cockpit to inhale what was for him a waft of cool air. In reality, the field stunk of fried moyomer and burnt ground. He made his way to the ground avoiding the hot spots on his 'mech and surveyed the land around him. It was littered with the twisted remains of dozens of battlemechs and steaming piles of armor.

There he just stood and watched as the Star Adder bombers made one final run over the still battlefield and destroyed what was left of LOKI. The explosion was fanatical, and the pieces of battlemechs flying out in all directions was a sight to see. The silence afterwards was the most soothing noise Thao had ever heard before. He enjoyed it while standing still to honor the resting place of Colonel Karl Garris. Even after all this, he knew inside that there was a man fighting for his idea of honor. He couldn't tell you how he knew, but he did. All true warriors know when the essence of another burns hot, and finally goes out.


	5. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

The room was fuzzy at first, making it painful to try and discern all the shapes around him as rays of light penetrated deep into his eyes. Julian Buhallin awoke in a hospital bed hooked up to a single IV feed to find Thao Prentice standing beside him.

"He is up," Thao projected into the hallway by turning his head. "Julian, how do you feel?"

"Hmm… I feel **-cough-** like a dropship landing pad. What happened?"

Gretchen Talasko entered the room with Kael Pershaw behind her. His movements were somewhat mechanical and slow due to the amount of prosthetics implanted into him. "You survived your fall with that Lyran mechwarrior, that is what happened. We cut you out of your cockpit to find you smashed up in your command couch, barely breathing. You probably should not have survived, but here you are," Gretchen replied, including herself in the conversation. She was in her dress uniform right now, looking sharp as ever.

"You had a few ribs replaced and your diaphragm and a kidney reconstructed. They fixed you up pretty well. It has been two weeks," Thao continued, answering his question in detail.

"What… what happened to Michael? What about LOKI?"

Kael Pershaw spoke up, "Michael was found impaled on some wreckage near a fallen 'mech. He overpowered his guard and killed himself to prevent us from capturing him. The LOKI unit is destroyed. Your stalling efforts paid off, and we have just finished patching things up with Clan Star Adder."

"Yes. Khan Marthe Pryde herself along with the rest of us went straight to Khan Cassius N'Buta and sorted things out. We do not know yet how Katrina Steiner will react to everything, but our two clans have an understanding now."

Julian sighed some relief. "It is almost too good to be true. How could we have pulled something like that off? What about the nuke? What about…"

"We lost a lot of people out there, be sure about that. But you need some rest now. I will properly debrief you when you are released." Kael Pershaw, not known for any kind of compassion or human emotion placed a hand on Julian's shoulder. "You did a great thing for your clan. Now rest up, I need you healthy so you can continue your reign." A small smirk crept across the exposed part of his face as he finished that last remark. That kind of thing coming from Kael Pershaw always creeped Julian out, like he had some kind of plan for him. He had to consciously shake the thought from his head.

Thao Prentice and Kael Pershaw left the room, leaving Julian and Gretchen there alone.

"I guess there are things I will never know, huh? Like how you made it into my unit, how you piloted that 'mech without being tuned to the neurohelmet, how you managed to position yourself in the exact position needed to survive that fall… but I do know that you nearly died protecting us. I only hope I can return the favor later on some time."

"I'm looking forward to it," he replied with a weak smirk on his face. The contraction for some reason seemed amusing to Gretchen as well.

As she left the room she turned to say one more thing. "You know they have a passage in the remembrance for you now. Those are some big shoes to fill. Just give me a ring if you ever get stuck in a Star Adder unit again," she finished with a smile and left him alone.

Gretchen entered the hallway to find Miles Van Houten waiting for her against the wall. When he came to after the battle he searched through the ruins looking for Mechwarrior Brenton, his longtime comrade. Clan warriors rarely form any kind of bond or even extended loyalty between each other, but Gretchen figured that if you were to assimilate into an entirely different clan then you would want something to hold on to for the time being, something that resembled familiarity. Brenton was that familiarity to Miles, and his death was the death of his transition. When he heard that Gretchen was on the roof with Brenton the whole time under fire he realized he was wrong and that he wasn't angry with Gretchen in particular, but bitter about his confused identity with his previous clan. A newfound respect was formed, and for the better.

Since he has become her most trusted officer and is currently overseeing the assimilation of replacement troops into her cluster. With a greeting and a salute, they were off to grab some lunch and return to the training facility together as commanders, and brothers in arms.

* * *

_"**As smooth as the Night Hawk swoops,**_

_**Scooping its pray from the killing fields,**_

_**With the reflexes of the warrior Prentice**_

_**And the steadfast resolve that Julian wields**_

_**Strike fast, strike low,**_

_**So the enemy loses sight,**_

_**Of the victory that the Falcon steals**_

_**From certain defeat when it takes flight"**_

The Remembrance (Clan Jade Falcon), Passage 162, Verse 4, lines 5-12


End file.
